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Update: Java Bowling III, the 43-year-old man who was shot in the chest by his drunk friend after trying to snag his keys and convince him to not drive while drunk, has died from his injuries.

Scott Campbell Sr. had been charged with felonious assault. Prosecutors will likely be filing more charges after this tragic conclusion. — Grzegorek

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(Original story: 8/5/13)

Well, Saturday night was incredibly violent in Cleveland. Six men were shot in five separate situations around town – and that’s just a hand-picked eight-hour window from the weekend.

One story, in particular, underscores the banality of gun violence.

Scott A. Campbell Sr., 40, was tipping back a few cold ones, inciting worry among others they he may eventually take the wheel and drive home. Java Bowling III, 43, tried to persuade him not to drive. They both got in an argument, which led to a bit of a brawl, which then led to Campbell shooting Bowling in the chest.

The offender ran off (or, more illustratively, drunkenly ambled to Middleburg Heights, where he was later arrested).

Bowling is recovering.

This article appears in Aug 7-13, 2013.

Eric Sandy is an award-winning Cleveland-based journalist. For a while, he was the managing editor of Scene. He now contributes jam band features every now and then.

7 replies on “Drunk Man Shoots Caring Friend in the Chest During Violent Cleveland Night”

  1. Don’t arrest the shooter just ban all use of alcohol and guns . That should take care of those type shootings ,DON’T YOU THINK ?????? The shooters not “RESPONSIBLE” he was just having a couple of cold ones !!

  2. Kudos to Bowling for trying to do the right thing. There’s nothing worse than trying to argue with a drunk.

  4. Obviously this man wasnt a ccw holder in the state of Ohio, bc you are NOT permitting 2 drink anything and have your gun on you.

  5. Yes people, it’s obviously the guns fault. We wouldn’t want to admit that this individual was an idiot, made a choice as an adult and then hold them accountable for their actions. But please, continue to blame guns and give the idiots who are irresponsible a free pass.

  6. Just horrible that between these two guys, the one that was the responsible person ends up dying, and the irresponsible person lives to see another day. Sigh…

  7. Guns don’t kill people eh? Just irresponsible people with guns kill people right?
    Well… what about if the irresponsible people didn’t have such a cavelier time about getting and carrying a gun in the first place… maybe there’d be a few less Dead people, and a few more live, responsible, caring people still among us.

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