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UPDATE: Man Who Accidentally Donated Gun to Goodwill: ‘Pure Panic’

Goodwill officials say they have not found the pistol.

 

Updated: 11:30 a.m., Thursday, Feb. 7.

The weapon has been found. See: Man Finds Missing ‘Goodwill Gun’

Update: 11:55 a.m., Friday, Feb. 1

Bryan Kendall, the man who told police he may have accidentally left a gun in with recent donations to Goodwill, said it was “probably the most irresponsible thing I’ve ever done.”

“Pure panic,” he said.

Kendall, of River Falls, Wis., said he had the pistol tucked away in a closet with some items he donated to Goodwill on Jan. 26. He didn’t notice the .22-calliber Smith & Wesson was missing until later, when he went to collect his other weapons for safe storage before a trip.

He contacted police about the missing handgun, and was worried he might be in trouble with the law, and was also concerned for the safety of the Goodwill employee who came across it.

“Just a terrible feeling,” Kendall said.

Goodwill officials earlier this week told Patch they had not found the gun. Woodbury police were notified of the possibility that a gun had been donated to Goodwill from their counterparts in Wisconsin.

Kendall said he had a number of donations to make, and he and his wife dropped off items at the Woodbury and Hudson, Wis., locations to distribute the goods.

He said he was planning to follow up with Goodwill and law enforcement officials. Kendall said people should always double check the belongings they plan to donate.

“Unfortunately, it’s now missing,” he said. “To think that a few extra seconds could have made a difference.”

Original story (5:07 p.m., Jan. 30, 2013)

Goodwill officials say they have not come across a gun a Wisconsin man believes he accidentally donated to the organization a few days ago.

The River Falls, Wis., man told authorities he made donations to both the Woodbury and Hudson, Wis., locations on Saturday, Jan. 26, but forgot to remove a loaded .22-calliber Smith & Wesson pistol that was placed between two pairs of Dockers pants, according to a report from the Hudson Police Department.

He told police the handgun would have been in a bag from Dick's Fresh Market, Fleet Farm or Target, and he was planning to file a report for the missing weapon.

Lisa Ritter, director of marketing for Goodwill, told Patch on Wednesday that she hadn’t heard of a gun being found with donations at either location.

The Woodbury Police Department was notified of the possibility that a pistol had been donated to the Woodbury Goodwill, said Michelle Okada, police spokeswoman.

 

Hudson Patch editor Micheal Foley contributed to this report.

 

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Related Topics: Accident, Dockers, Donation, Goodwill, Handgun, Hudson, Pistol, and Woodbury

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Kris Janisch

5:37 pm on Wednesday, January 30, 2013

I did ask the managers at the Woodbury Goodwill if they ever get weird items, but they just started talking about e-commerce...

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Micheal Foley

5:39 pm on Wednesday, January 30, 2013

I got the flat "no comment" from the Hudson store manager.

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HHF34

7:11 pm on Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Quite simply - how NOT to build community support for your business... The question you asked was a reasonable one that they didn't need to pass you along to corporate for unless they don't even bother to sort through the donations locally and it all just goes to "central sorting"...

Susan Monty

5:43 pm on Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Oh my, there's a responsible gun owner. I wonder if he's got kids.

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Kris Janisch

5:45 pm on Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Well, they did direct me to corporate Mike, but I figured maybe I could pull another interesting nugget. (Not that the story isn't interesting enough on its own.)

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Dawn

10:55 pm on Wednesday, January 30, 2013

And they wonder why not everyone trusts them to be responsible with a lethal weapon.

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Just Deb

8:24 am on Thursday, January 31, 2013

At least this guy owned what he did and followed through accordingly.

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SomeGuy

9:42 am on Thursday, January 31, 2013

Agreed. It was very good that he took responsibility and acted to correct it.

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Dawn

9:54 am on Monday, February 4, 2013

That's true, but the gun is still missing so if it isn't in the donation box where is it and who has it - and was it loaded? He said he was gathering up his guns for safe storage before going on a trip - why were they lying around instead of in safe storage to begin with? Call me a hard nose but it still irresponsible behavior on the part of a gun owner.

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Kris Janisch

11:52 am on Thursday, January 31, 2013

Somebody on our Facebook page called this a "disturbing" story. Maybe thinking there's more to it...

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yomammy

12:04 pm on Friday, February 1, 2013

"disturbing" wow....
its link a dingo got your baby or something...

Susan

12:03 pm on Thursday, January 31, 2013

Although this man made the first mistake, does anyone else find it troubling that Goodwill has not "found" the gun? Of-course the man could be mistaken in where the gun was, but it is a scary thought that someone who shouldn't have this gun might have it. I also think it's a little odd that he donated to two locations. This could just be that he wanted to spread out the donation, but I'm not sure that most would make the extra trip.

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Randy Marsh

12:09 pm on Thursday, January 31, 2013

I was also curious about the two separate donations, Susan. I would not be surprised if there is more to this as it seems impossible if the gun was included with either donation that it would not have been found by now.

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Susan

12:22 pm on Thursday, January 31, 2013

Like maybe he needed a reason to explain why he is no longer in possession of this gun?

Just speculating, not accussing....

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HHF34

11:39 pm on Friday, February 1, 2013

It could have to do with the maximum allowable tax deduct. amount or what each site accepts for donations...

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Kris Janisch

8:08 am on Saturday, February 2, 2013

Good thinking HHF. It sounded to me like they just wanted to spread it out, and they were coming to Woodbury anyway. That was the sense I got.

Thomas

1:51 pm on Thursday, January 31, 2013

cute story but it must have been a really light gun to not be noticed between 2 pair of pants. "Geez... these pants are heavyer than they used to be." :/

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Kris Janisch

11:33 am on Friday, February 1, 2013

Talked to the guy just now. I'll have a story up soon.

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Kristen Cranford

11:39 am on Friday, February 1, 2013

If it hasn't been found, it makes me suspicious of those who take the donations in the recieving areas. If the right person found it who had no conscience, it could have been pocketed easily I would imagine.

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Kris Janisch

11:43 am on Friday, February 1, 2013

That was my thought after I talked to the guy. He seemed really reasonable and distraught over the whole thing.

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Susan

12:05 pm on Friday, February 1, 2013

It is still troubling, whether this is his fault in misplacing the gun, or Goodwill having not found it. Let's just hope these are honest mistakes and the gun turns up soon. It's nice that he was willing to comment and give a little more info. Nice follow-up, Kris.

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Kris Janisch

12:06 pm on Friday, February 1, 2013

Yeah, he sounded like a nice guy. No problem Susan.

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Susan

7:59 am on Tuesday, February 5, 2013

""We took very careful measures to look at all of the donated boxes of textiles. So that would be in this case, apparel and jeans, and took great care in looking at the donated items from the day of Saturday and at that point we have not reported any type of weapon or illegal contraband that has been picked up," said Lisa Ritter, Director of Marketing for Goodwill Easter Seals Minnesota."

http://kstp.com/news/stories/S2920314.shtml?cat=1

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Kris Janisch

9:54 am on Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Thanks Susan, didn't see that KSTP picked up this story.

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Susan

11:27 am on Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Yep, I heard that KQ was going to talk about it this morning too. Unfortunately I didn't get to hear it. It's turning into quite the story...bad timing I guess.

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Kris Janisch

11:31 am on Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Thanks again Susan. I was surprised more media outlets didn't grab this one, especially with all the gun-control talk of late.

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Susan

11:40 am on Tuesday, February 5, 2013

That's what I mean about timing. If this was an innocent mistake, this man could be the local example of irresponsible gun ownership, even though he did the right thing when noticing that the gun was missing. If that happens, I'm concerned that people will choose not to report this type of thing in the future.

Let's hope it teaches people to be a little more careful with their guns, not that we shouldn't do the right thing if we do make a mistake.

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Kris Janisch

11:41 am on Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Realized that right after I hit submit Susan. Yeah, you hope people aren't reluctant to report.

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Kris Janisch

5:49 pm on Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Somebody on our Facebook page said she heard the gun had been found. Anybody see that reported anywhere?

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