A 26-year-old Michigan man died in an explosion that occurred during a baby shower, according to Gaines Township authorities. A small cannon device that the owner fired in the backyard of a house exploded, scattering metal shrapnel that hit the man nearby.
The man was taken in serious condition to Hurley Medical Center in Flint, where he later died. The man has been identified as Evan Thomas Silva of Hartland, CBS affiliate WNEM reported.
Three parked cars and the garage where the baby shower was located were also hit by shrapnel, the station reported. Michigan state police said they suspected he had gunpowder in the device and caused the gun to fracture.
WNEM, citing Michigan state police, reports that the homeowner bought the cannon at an auction. The owner had launched the device several times before February 6th.
Phone calls Sunday to authorities in Gaines Township for additional information were not immediately returned.
In recent years, some gender-revealing events – in which devices expel confetti, balloons or other colored objects to announce the sex of a child to be born soon – have taken a dangerous turn.
In September, a couple plan to reveal the gender of their baby with blue or pink smoke it caused gunpowder that burned thousands of acres in southern California. And in 2019, a homemade explosive used to reveal the gender of a baby killed 56-year-old Pamela Kreimeyer in Knoxville, Iowa. The device was intended to spray dust, but exploded like a pipe bomb.