At her own wedding, a bride was fatally wounded when a stray bullet from the celebratory gunfire struck her in the head.
Mahvash Leghaei, 24, was getting married in Iran’s Firuzabad when a guest, who is thought to be the groom’s cousin, opened fire with an illegally owned high-powered hunting rifle.
The graduate in psychology was shot in the head directly, and two other male attendees were also hurt.
Despite being against the law, it is nonetheless common in the Middle East to fire a gun at weddings.
‘We had an emergency call of a gunshot at a wedding hall in Firuzabad city, and officers were dispatched promptly,’ police spokesperson Colonel Mehdi Jokar said.
According to a local nomad tradition, someone had fired bullets with a hunting rifle, which was discovered by the police.
Unfortunately, due to the crowds and the shooter’s poor gun control, he managed to hit three people—two men and the bride.
The man who discharged the unauthorized hunting weapon at the wedding was found by police after the shooter left the scene.
Initial accounts state that two shots were fired, the first of which missed its target but hit the bride in the head and brain before striking the other two guests.
The bride was put into a coma and later passed away, according to the police spokeswoman, but the two other people who were shot weren’t gravely hurt.
A 36-year-old man who was not named but was reportedly the bride’s cousin was the shooter.
According to the police spokesman, “Naturally, any disturbance of public order crosses the red line, and the police need to intervene.
People also need to be aware that, in order to foster a sense of community safety, shooting is prohibited at weddings.
“We will take harsh action against anyone discovered to be breaching this rule,” the statement reads.
According to the victim’s family, three people have benefited from her donated organs.
Her uncle claimed that she had been assisting drug users overcome their addiction while working as a social worker, and that she had only recently made the decision to obtain an organ donor card.
When they learned of her passing, they made the decision to honor her wishes and set up the organ donation.