BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) - Months after the owner of a Berkley County gun store allegedly shot and killed an employee during a prank, documents show the business had to pay up for safety and health violations.
The South Carolina Office of Occupational Safety and Health fined Coastal Firearms $3,000 for two violations after the deadly Nov. 2 incident.
The state’s OSHA office issued the fine on April 28, those documents state.
Court records state store owner Jon Whitley told Berkely County Sheriff Deputies he bought a replica Glock BB gun and placed it among the other real firearms “with the intent of pranking his friend,” identified as 36-year-old Stefan Mrgan, an employee of the store. Whitley mistakenly picked up a real firearm instead of the replica, pointed it at the victim, and fired, the affidavit states.
He instead picked up a real weapon, he told authorities. Whitley was charged with involuntary manslaughter in late November.
In December, a few days after Whitley’s bond hearing, state agents inspected the business located on Cainhoy Road.
The first citation, labeled as “serious,” states the business “failed to furnish a place of employment which is free of recognized hazards which may cause death or serious physical harm.”
OSHA documents state the employer should have known that by pointing a firearm in the direction of employees would expose them to be struck by a hazard and can be remedied with training and enforcement of basic firearm safety.
The second is a...
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