GAINES TOWNSHIP, Mich. — A cannon that exploded at a baby shower in Genesee County left one attendee dead, police said. Michigan State Police are investigating the incident that took place around 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 6 in Gaines Township, southwest of Flint.
During the baby shower, a small cannon-type device was fired in the back yard to celebrate the baby’s pending arrival, according to a statement from Michigan State Police, mlive reported.
The small cannon blew up, spraying metal shrapnel that struck an unidentified 26-year-old Hartland man who was standing nearby. The critically injured victim was transported to Hurley Medical Center in Flint, where he later died.
Three parked cars and the garage where the baby shower was being held were also struck by shrapnel, KTLA reported.
The Michigan State Police Bomb Squad, Gaines Township Fire Department, and Med Star Ambulance assisted troopers at the scene.
There were no further details provided by authorities.
In recent years, some gender-reveal events — where devices eject confetti, balloons or other colored objects to announce a soon-to-be-born child’s sex — have taken a dangerous turn.
In September, a couple’s plan to reveal their baby’s gender with blue or pink smoke sparked a wildfire that burned thousands of acres in Southern California. And in 2019, a homemade explosive used to reveal a baby’s gender killed 56-year-old Pamela Kreimeyer in Knoxville, Iowa. The device was meant to spray powder but instead blew up like a pipe bomb.
