NEWSPAPERS: Death of Patsy Viola Lindberg, Oak Grove district, Jackson County, Oregon *************************************************************************** USGENWEB ARCHIVES(tm) NOTICE All documents placed in the USGenWeb Archives remain the property of the contributors, who retain publication rights in accordance with United States Copyright Laws and Regulations. In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, these documents may be used by anyone for their personal research. They may be used by noncommercial entities so long as all notices and submitter information is included. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit. Any other use, including copying files to other sites, requires permission from the contributors PRIOR to uploading to the other sites. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net/ *************************************************************************** Transcribed and formatted for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Elizabeth Corethers 15 May 2003 *************************************************************************** Medford (Oregon) Mail Tribune, Sunday, 21 Jun 1936, p. 1 GIRL, 11, VICTIM OF GUN TRAGEDY, OAK GROVE HOME Autopsy Reveals Patsy Lindberg Accidentally Killed When Shotgun Discharged Friday. A blast from an accidentally discharged 410 gauge shotgun Friday afternoon snuffed out the life of Patsy Viola Lindberg, 11 year old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Al W. Lindberg of the Oak Grove district. An autopsy performed by Dr. Harold B. Gillis determined the little girl "died as the result of a gunshot wound accidentally inflicted by herself." The accident happened between 2:15 and 3 o'clock p.m. Friday, state police who investigated stated. The little girl was alone in the house at the time, and her father and 17 year old brother, Don Marquis, were irrigating in the back yard 500 feet away. Mr. Lindberg entered the house at approximately 3 o'clock and found his daughter at the foot of the stairs gasping for breath. Believing she had fallen down the stairs he called to his son, telling him to order an ambulance immediately, and then put the wounded girl on a bed. The father found the death weapon lying near the little girl, with a fired cartridge in the magazine, but did not connect it with the injury at the time. Little Patsy died before the ambulance arrived, but was taken to the Community hospital in a desperate attempt to resuscitate her. The attempt was fruitless. In reconstructing the accident, state police stated that the girl had evidently been playing with the shotgun while seated on a lower stair of a staircase leading to an upper floor. She had apparently been holding the barrel of the weapon against her forehead, between the eyes, and accidentally fired it by touching the trigger or jarring it. The charge entered the skull between the eyes and ranged across the brain, lodging at the base of the skull, missing the motor center of the brain. No one heard the shot, state police said. Absence of powder burns, and the fact that the skull was not blown away, at first lead to the belief that the girl had not been shot, and rumors were circulated that the girl had died from a fall against the gun, or some projection on the stairway. The autopsy revealed powder burns inside the brain cavity, and the wadding and shot from the explosion were found. The little girl had accidentally discharged the gun while playing with it about a week ago, frightening her parents, although she was not injured, state police said. She had been rebuked, and warned not to play with the weapon, which was kept around the house for squirrel shooting. The empty shell found in the gun when the father opened it was at first believed to be the same one accidentally discharged on the former occasion. There will be no inquest, County Coroner Frank Perl announced, and state police said "the case is closed." The Lindbergs came here from Los Angeles, where the girl was born, about a year and a half ago. The dead girl was a student in the sixth grade of the Oak Grove school. The father is an employe of the Lewis Super Service station at the corner of Front and Eighth streets in this city. Funeral services will be held from the Perl Funeral home Monday afternoon at 2 o'clock, with interment in Siskiyou Memorial Park. The little girl is survived by her parents and brother Don Marquis, and by one sister, Dorothy, 14 years old.