Man cleaning gun outside gas station kills 42-year-old stranger, WV cops say
A 42-year-old woman was fatally shot walking into a gas station in West Virginia when a man accidentally discharged a gun he was cleaning in his car, police said.
Officers responded to the shooting at about 12 a.m. May 27 in South Charleston where they found Tiffany Clerenia Adkins had been shot in the head, the Charleston Police Department said in a news release.
Adkins was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead, police said.
A man, identified as 18-year-old Jacob Fields, told officers he was “wiping” the barrel of the gun when it accidentally went off, according to police.
Investigators said the bullet went through the man’s front windshield and hit Adkins in the back of the head as she passed by the car on her way into the gas station.
Fields is charged with wanton endangerment and involuntary manslaughter, police said.
Gun violence in the US
Thousands of people die from firearm injuries in the U.S. each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Firearm injuries and deaths continue to be a significant public health problem in the United States,” the CDC said. “In 2022, there were more than 48,000 firearm-related deaths in the United States according to mortality data. That’s about 132 people dying from a firearm-related injury each day.”
Firearm-related injuries were one of the top leading causes of death for people ages 1 to 44 in 2022, the CDC reported.
The impact of gun violence, however, goes beyond the death toll, experts said.
“The effects of firearm violence and injury extend beyond victims and their families,” officials said. “Shooting incidents, including those in homes, schools, houses of worship, or workplaces, shopping areas, on the street or at community events can affect the sense of safety and security of entire communities and impact everyday decisions.”
This story was originally published May 27, 2025 at 3:38 PM with the headline "Man cleaning gun outside gas station kills 42-year-old stranger, WV cops say."
