Staff report
A 21-year-old Clovis man unintentionally shot and killed himself Monday while attempting to demonstrate to his girlfriend how to beat the game of Russian Roulette, according to Clovis Police Chief Steve Sanders.
Sanders said Matthew Nesmith shot himself once in the head with a .357 caliber revolver about 8:50 p.m. in an apartment at the Lighthouse Mission complex. He died about 10:30 p.m. at Plains Regional Medical Center.
“I think it was his idea to show how to beat the game of Russian Roulette,” said Sanders.
Sanders said Nesmith had been drinking. The girlfriend told police Nesmith placed the barrel of the gun to his temple, pulled the trigger once and the gun didn’t fire. He then spun the cylinder of the gun, placed it to his temple and fired the second and fatal shot, according to Sanders.
Police believe the gun belonged to Nesmith and he had three bullets in the cylinder prior to the deadly demonstration, according to Sanders.
“You don’t mix guns with alcohol,” said Sanders. “Bad things happen when you do.”
