Waterbury Man Charged in Tragic Gun Game: Cops

Police have arrested his friend.

A 22-year-old Waterbury man is dead after two friends were playing a game with a gun, according to police.

Police responded to a Mill Street home just after 2 p.m. on Sunday after receiving a frantic call and found the victim in the kitchen with a gunshot wound to the chest, police said.

The victim was transported to Saint Mary’s Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His name has not been released.

Police have arrested the victim’s friend, Shawn French, 22, who lives at the Mill Street home.

At first, French told police he mistook his friend and roommate for an intruder and shot him, police said.

After police questioning, French said he and his friend were firing blanks from a .22-caliber Ruger handgun and a real bullet might have been mixed in with blanks.

French, who is the legal owner of the gun, was charged with first-degree manslaughter with a firearm and reckless endangerment.

He will be arraigned this morning in Waterbury Superior Court.

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