Soldier Admits to Shooting Friend in Attempt to Cure Hiccups

By Jeff Black and Andrew Mach, NBC News

Credit: Killeen Police Dept.

Spc. Patrick Edward Myers

February 1, 2013 Updated Feb 1, 2013 at 10:43 AM PDT

Fort Hood soldier pleaded guilty Thursday to involuntary manslaughter -- admitting he accidentally shot his friend while trying to scare away the hiccups.

Spc. Patrick Edward Myers, of Spartanburg, S.C., was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in military prison for fatally shooting 22-year-old Pfc. Isaac Lawrence Young, of Ash Grove, Mo., in the face in September while they were watching a football game at an apartment in Killeen, Texas.

Myers was also busted to private and will receive a bad-conduct discharge, the Associated Press reported.

Police said three men were inside the apartment on Sunday, Sept. 23, watching a football game and drinking alcohol when one of the men produced a handgun, handled it in an "unsafe manner," and shot the victim in the face.

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