Man Who Shot Self With Homemade Gun Facing Weapons Charge

A South Florida man who shot himself with a homemade gun was arrested on a weapons charge over the weekend.

Manny Garrido, 23, was arrested Sunday on a charge of possession of a weapon by a felon following an incident in March in which he shot himself in the leg, the Sun-Sentinel reported Tuesday.

Garrido, who had pleaded guilty to felony drug charges in April 2011 after authorities found prescription pills in his pocket, was was at his father's Lake Worth house earlier this year when he decided to tinker with making a homemade gun.

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Using the brass tube assembly of an air conditioner gauge, a large nut, springs and a screwdriver, Garrido fashioned a one-round .40-caliber handgun with tools in his father's yard.

On March 29, the gun went off, sending a bullet into Garrido's leg.

"I came home and found him limping in the backyard," Manny Pinho, Garrido's father, told the Sun-Sentinel. "He didn't want to go to the hospital — he was afraid he'd get in trouble — but I made him go."

When Garrido showed up at the emergency room, a staffer called police, who arrived and interviewed Garrido who described how he shot himself.

Garrido's leg was swollen and discolored and he had an open wound at the center of his shin. X-ray images showed the bullet lodged in his leg, near the ankle.

Pinho gave detectives his son's homemade gun, which held a spent shell in the barrel.

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Because Florida doesn't allow convicted felons to buy guns or ammunition, Garrido was arrested. He was still being held Tuesday on $7,500 bond.

Pinho said no one else was hurt, so he shouldn't have to pay to get his son out of jail.

"Who hasn't tried to building a sling shot or bow and arrow in their lives?" Pinho said. "It was an experiment that went wrong."

 

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