Some stories feel too stupid to be real. This is one of them.
According to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office in Texas, two friends—Sean O’Donnell, 37, and Aaron Prout, 34—were drinking at home on August 17 when they decided to play what they apparently considered a casual little game. The rules were simple. You hold a Kevlar helmet above your head, and your friend tries to shoot it with a rifle. Then you switch.
Kevlar helmets are designed to withstand some ballistic impact. That’s not the same thing as “go ahead and shoot at it in a suburban living room after a few drinks.” In this case, the shot didn’t hit the helmet cleanly. Prout, a former Royal Marine from the UK, was taken to the hospital with a gunshot wound to the head and later died.
Friends Took Turns Shooting Each Other in the Head—It Didn’t End Well
At first, police believed it may have been self-inflicted. O’Donnell allegedly told officers he had shot himself. But investigators noticed things weren’t lining up. According to Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, the two had recorded themselves playing this “game” and sent the videos to friends—some of whom later shared them with authorities. “Hard to believe two so-called friends would take turns shooting at each other wearing a Kevlar helmet, inside a house in a residential neighborhood, while using a rifle,” Gonzalez posted.
The judge reviewing the case described the scene bluntly. Two men who had been drinking decided it was a good idea to shoot at each other with rifles, even when they had friends warning them to stop.
O’Donnell has since been charged with murder and is being held on $3,000 bail.
There’s no satisfying explanation for what happened. No secret motive. No mental health episode. Just two adult men, both old enough to know better, one of whom paid the ultimate price for confusing military-grade gear with party tricks.
Aaron Prout had served ten years in the Royal Marines before moving to Texas. It’s a devastating end to a life built around structure and service. As for his friend, the decision to treat a firearm like a toy has left him with a criminal charge, a dead friend, and a story that will follow him forever.
Some stories really do write their own headlines. This one ends with a man bleeding out on his living room floor while his friend realizes, too late, that this “game” was a terrible idea.
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