Notable Russian roulette incidents

Numerous incidents have been reported regarding Russian roulette. Many are teenagers, with some players as young as 14.[1]

  • British author Graham Greene claimed that in his youth he often played Russian roulette as a means to provide "excitement and get away from the boredom". But he later decided that "it was no more exciting than taking aspirin for a headache".[2]

  • In his autobiography, Malcolm X says that during his burglary career he once played Russian roulette, pulling the trigger three times in a row to convince his partners in crime that he was not afraid to die. In the epilogue to the book, Alex Haley states that Malcolm X revealed to him that he palmed the round.

  • On December 24, 1954, the American blues musician Johnny Ace killed himself in Texas after a gun he pointed at his own head discharged. Many sources, including the Washington Post[3] attribute this to Russian roulette, though witnesses to the shooting have claimed it was actually an accident after Ace had been playing with his weapon.

  • John Hinckley, Jr., the man who attempted to murder President Ronald Reagan in 1981, was known to play Russian roulette, alone, on two occasions. Hinckley also took a picture of himself in 1980 pointing a gun at his head.[4]

  • PBS claims that William Shockley, co-inventor of the transistor and winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics, had attempted suicide by playing a solo game of Russian roulette.[5]

  • On October 5, 2003, psychological illusionist Derren Brown played Russian roulette on British television Channel 4. The stunt was broadcast live with a slight delay allowing the program to cut to a black screen if anything had gone wrong. The stunt was condemned by some as being irresponsible, and a statement by the police that they had been informed of the arrangements in advance and were satisfied that "at no time was anyone at risk"[6] made it clear that the incident was a hoax. However, it was proved on the prerecorded segment of the program that at point blank range even a blank cartridge is potentially lethal, and may cause concussion to the head, deafness or burns.

References

  1. ^ Holly Strother, Curiosity about guns can kill, April 1, 2003.

  2. ^ A Writer at Work, 15 August 1969, Radio 4, BBC website.

  3. ^ "Really Old School", Washington Post, December 25, 1998.

  4. ^ http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/hinckley/hinkleygun2.jpg

  5. ^ Transistorized!, Public Broadcasting Service, 1999.

  6. ^ "Roulette gun stunt 'a hoax'". BBC News. 2003-10-07.

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