Teenager dies playing Russian roulette
Monday, May 22, 2000
A 16-year-old boy shot and killed himself Sunday in his girlfriend's north side home in an apparent game of Russian roulette, authorities said.
According to the Milwaukee County medical examiner's reports, Melvin Hibbler was visiting his girlfriend and another girl around 3:15 p.m. at a home in the 1900 block of N. 27th St. when he unloaded five of six bullets from a snub-nose .22-caliber handgun.
"Tell me you love me," Hibbler joked, putting the handgun to his head. He pulled the trigger three times, the final time firing the bullet into his head, the medical examiner's report states.
Family members said Hibbler, who lived in the 1500 block of N. 29th St., was a happy boy who gave no signs of wanting to end his life, according to the report.
Police found him lying on a bed next to the five bullets he took out of the gun.
Hibbler's grandmother, Ora Jean Sholar, told authorities that the boy bought the gun from an unknown source about a week ago and had been firing it occasionally during the previous week.
She also told investigators that the boy smoked marijuana, although another family member reported that Hibbler quit that habit when he turned 16.
The death has been ruled a suicide.
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