LINWOOD, Minn. — When deputies arrived on the scene they were told that a man was shooting off aerial fireworks in a mortar tube. Then the man decided to place two of the fireworks in the tube at the same time and hold the tube in his hand has the fireworks were shot off. The tube exploded and caused an impact in the man’s chest.
Only once the man was being treated for his injuries at a local hospital was the true cause of his injuries revealed. “The second firework was found inside the man’s chest so deep that it could not be seen from the exterior” said Anoka County Sherriff’s Commander Paul Sommer. At that point the St. Paul bomb squad was called in to safely remove the unspent device from the man’s chest. Commander Sommer said in all his years in law enforcement he has never seen a case like this.
The case in Linwood involved fireworks that are illegal in Minnesota, but Commander Sommer reminds everyone that all fireworks carry some level of danger “there is always a risk when you use fireworks.” At last report the injured man remains in critical condition at Regions Hospital.
