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SAN DIEGO (AP) — The ex-wife and the children of an Arizona shooting instructor say they don't have any ill feelings toward the 9-year-old girl who accidentally shot and killed him while she was learning to fire an Uzi.
Instead, they say they feel sorry for the child, and want to write her a letter to comfort her.
Charles Vacca was standing next to the girl when she squeezed the trigger at the Last Stop range in White Hills, Arizona, on Monday. The recoil wrenched the Uzi upward, and Vacca was fatally shot once in the head.
His ex-wife, Anamarie Vacca, says she hasn't spoken to the girl or her parents since the shooting occurred, but that her children want to write the letter -- and let the girl know "not to revolve her life around it."
Groups seeking to reduce gun violence have said it was reckless to let the girl handle such a powerful weapon. They're calling for tighter regulations regarding children and guns.
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155-a-06-(Elizabeth Vacca, whose father, a shooting instructor, was accidentally killed by a 9-year-old with an Uzi submachine gun, in interview Thursday)-"this one incident"-Elizabeth Vacca, whose father, a shooting instructor, was accidentally killed by a 9-year-old with an Uzi submachine gun earlier this week, wants the girl's family to know she realizes her father's death wasn't malicious. COURTESY: NBC's "Today" show ((mandatory on-air credit)) (29 Aug 2014)
<<CUT *155 (08/29/14)££ 00:06 "this one incident"
156-a-12-(Ashley Vacca, whose father, a shooting instructor, was accidentally killed by a 9-year-old with an Uzi submachine gun, in interview Thursday)-"to live with"-Ashley Vacca, whose father, a shooting instructor, was accidentally killed by a 9-year-old with an Uzi submachine gun earlier this week, says she plans to write a letter to the girl and her family. COURTESY: NBC's "Today" show ((mandatory on-air credit)) (29 Aug 2014)
<<CUT *156 (08/29/14)££ 00:12 "to live with"
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