# Man dons 'bulletproof' vest, asks friend to shoot him. Death ensues. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 22, 2005, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dons-bulletproof-vest-asks-friend-to-shoot-him-death-ensues/291311 "2005-02-22T06:35:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dons-bulletproof-vest-asks-friend-to-shoot-him-death-ensues/291311/1 "2005-02-22T06:35:19Z")
In Hobart, Indiana, 20-year-old Daniel Wright was planning to join the military, and he wanted to get some battlefield experience. He put on a flak jacket, and he told his friends, “Shoot me. I’m ready.” The coroner said the 20 gauge plastic cartridge pierced Wright’s chest, and some of the shotgun pellets ripped into his heart. The vest was not designed to stop bullets. The friend who shot him stands charged with reckless homicide, and two others are charged with assisting the shooter with concealing the homicide (they initially told the police Wright was shot outside a liquor store.) [http://www.insightbb.com/external/search.asp?q=shot+daniel+wright&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fsearch&btnG.x=36&btnG.y=12](http://www.insightbb.com/external/search.asp?q=shot+daniel+wright&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fsearch&btnG.x=36&btnG.y=12) This year’s Darwin Award might just be sewn up. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dons-bulletproof-vest-asks-friend-to-shoot-him-death-ensues/291311/2 "2005-02-22T09:20:30Z")
Death is never completely funny, but I can’t help thinking the story would have been improved if the dumbass put on the jacket and the other dumbass shot him in the head. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_loblaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@bob\_loblaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_loblaw)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dons-bulletproof-vest-asks-friend-to-shoot-him-death-ensues/291311/3 "2005-02-22T09:48:55Z")
“i bet you a thousand bucks this vest will stop a shotgun blast.” “you’re on.” \ “i told you man… um, buddy? shit! now how he gonna pay up?” ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dons-bulletproof-vest-asks-friend-to-shoot-him-death-ensues/291311/4 "2005-02-22T10:15:58Z")
Last words: M-my jacket. **Groan.** I’m SOOo gonna catch flak for this. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dons-bulletproof-vest-asks-friend-to-shoot-him-death-ensues/291311/5 "2005-02-22T10:46:14Z")
“Shoot my vest Shoot my vest It can stand The toughest test” Bang! “D’oh!” {offstage} “_Hah_-hah” Sorry. But you gotta admit, it _was_ catchy. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dons-bulletproof-vest-asks-friend-to-shoot-him-death-ensues/291311/6 "2005-02-22T11:55:35Z")
I didn’t think ‘battlefield experience’ meant standing still to be shot. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dons-bulletproof-vest-asks-friend-to-shoot-him-death-ensues/291311/7 "2005-02-22T12:00:56Z")
More proof that Hoosiers are either really really smart, or really really dumb - we don’t seem to have _any_ normals around here. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dons-bulletproof-vest-asks-friend-to-shoot-him-death-ensues/291311/8 "2005-02-22T12:30:26Z")
> [@glee](#): > > I didn’t think ‘battlefield experience’ meant standing still to be shot. :rolleyes: It doesn’t. He could have just as easily eaten an MRE, and still had to suffer. Hell, _that_ might have killed him too . . . :eek: Tripler I kid! I kid! I actually like the things. But I have bowels of steel. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dons-bulletproof-vest-asks-friend-to-shoot-him-death-ensues/291311/9 "2005-02-22T13:22:08Z")
Yet another entry in a long line the most often utered famous last words: **"Hey guys! Watch this!.."** :smack: ---
**Author:** ![klintypooh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3da27b/32.png) [@klintypooh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/klintypooh)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dons-bulletproof-vest-asks-friend-to-shoot-him-death-ensues/291311/10 "2005-02-22T13:28:53Z")
This exact same thing happened to my friend only it was ‘stabproof’ and with a knife. He barely lived, but hes 100% now and has a huge scar down his stomach. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dons-bulletproof-vest-asks-friend-to-shoot-him-death-ensues/291311/11 "2005-02-22T14:27:27Z")
Doh! The male urge to test and push equipment to the max. Why do they even let us have things like electronics, bulletproof vests, gasoline engines and nuclear weapons? Women: get your collective act together and take this shit away from us! Don’t you know we can’t be trusted? ---
**Author:** ![klintypooh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3da27b/32.png) [@klintypooh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/klintypooh)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dons-bulletproof-vest-asks-friend-to-shoot-him-death-ensues/291311/12 "2005-02-22T14:58:15Z")
> [@CynicalGabe](#): > > Doh! The male urge to test and push equipment to the max. Why do they even let us have things like electronics, bulletproof vests, gasoline engines and nuclear weapons? Women: get your collective act together and take this shit away from us! Don’t you know we can’t be trusted? Yeah, and then imagine the trouble thats gonna happen once a month. ☹ I’m just playing ladies. 😃 Hijack: Wasn’t it a woman that invent the bulletproof vest? ---
**Author:** ![monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monster)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dons-bulletproof-vest-asks-friend-to-shoot-him-death-ensues/291311/13 "2005-02-22T15:07:10Z")
Broomstick, about where are you from? I grew up in Hobart, went to River Forest schools. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dons-bulletproof-vest-asks-friend-to-shoot-him-death-ensues/291311/14 "2005-02-22T15:36:23Z")
We often make fun of warning labels, but Daniel Wright **really** should have read the one on his flak jacket. “Hey, wait a minute, guys! It says here this thing won’t stop bullets!” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dons-bulletproof-vest-asks-friend-to-shoot-him-death-ensues/291311/15 "2005-02-22T15:46:00Z")
I always feel bad for the families in these situations. The Darwin Award nominee can’t hear the mocking but the family can. They have to be wavering somewhere between anger and grief on a permanent basis. I imagine that they wish he were still alive so they could smack him upside the head for being so stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dons-bulletproof-vest-asks-friend-to-shoot-him-death-ensues/291311/16 "2005-02-22T18:30:51Z")
How did it never occur to either of these guys that testing the jacket out **first** on something like, oh, an old clothing mannequin, would be a good idea? ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dons-bulletproof-vest-asks-friend-to-shoot-him-death-ensues/291311/17 "2005-02-22T19:09:39Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > How did it never occur to either of these guys that testing the jacket out **first** on something like, oh, an old clothing mannequin, would be a good idea? I once (almost) test-piloted a new glider I had built. The fuselage was made from a packing crate, the wings a long piece of wall paneling nailed to the bottom of the crate. On top of a 10 foot high shed, I put the glider near the edge and feeling proud, I decided at the last minute to demand the attention of anyone nearby. One bystander (the only one–busy cooking in the kitchen) suggested that I try flying the glider \*un-manned \* before I actually piloted the thing myself. I thought, well, that’s not much fun but what could it hurt? I pushed the glider off the edge of the shed roof and watched it fly straight to the ground and break apart. uh oh-- that might have hurt a little. Thanks mom, for suggesting the dry run. I was about 6 years old at the time. The flak-jacket dude was 20. Oh well. ---
**Author:** ![Rue\_DeDay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/41988e/32.png) [@Rue\_DeDay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rue_DeDay)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dons-bulletproof-vest-asks-friend-to-shoot-him-death-ensues/291311/18 "2005-02-22T19:53:50Z")
Good safety tip there **I Love Me, Vol. I**. If you’re going to test a flak jacket the quick and dirty way, run the idea past your mom first. ---
**Author:** ![5que](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/3bc359/32.png) [@5que](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5que)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dons-bulletproof-vest-asks-friend-to-shoot-him-death-ensues/291311/19 "2005-02-22T20:48:45Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Yet another entry in a long line the most often utered famous last words: > > **"Hey guys! Watch this!.."** Or the southern version: **"Hey, hold my beer and watch this…"** ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_in\_second\_hand\_clothing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9d8465/32.png) [@wolf\_in\_second\_hand\_clothing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_in_second_hand_clothing)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dons-bulletproof-vest-asks-friend-to-shoot-him-death-ensues/291311/20 "2005-02-22T21:06:32Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > How did it never occur to either of these guys that testing the jacket out **first** on something like, oh, an old clothing mannequin, would be a good idea? Because that wouldn’t have given him _real battlefield experience!_ [Ranier Wolfcastle] My heart! The jacket does no-thing! [/RW] [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-dons-bulletproof-vest-asks-friend-to-shoot-him-death-ensues/291311.md?page=2)