The Russian roulette-style shooting death of a 20-year-old city man early Saturday has been ruled a suicide by the Allen County Coroner's Office.
Nickolas Thomas died of a gunshot wound to the head, the office ruled Monday.
Fort Wayne Police were called to 2626 Carver Court around 4:45 a.m. on a report of a shooting. They found Thomas in the home, critically injured from a gunshot wound to his head. Thomas was taken to Parkview Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Police questioned at least three witnesses at police headquarters on Creighton Avenue immediately after the incident and heard differing accounts of events. Police spokeswoman Liza Thomas said Saturday that the witnesses told police Thomas and as many as four others were playing Russian roulette when Thomas was shot, but that some statements from witnesses forced investigators to look into the possibility of foul play.
When Thomas' body was examined in the autopsy, however, Deputy Coroner Becky Stuttle said it was apparent the wound was not only self-inflicted, but made with purpose.
“Well, pretty much when you knowingly put bullets into a gun, you know what the outcome is going to be on that,” Stuttle said. “It's different than if you were going bungee jumping, where you don't expect the rope to break. When you knowingly put bullets into a gun, there's only one outcome.”
Stuttle said for the coroner's office to rule a death a suicide as opposed to an accident, there must be obvious keys to suggest intent to kill. In this circumstance, Stuttle said the bullets in the gun were enough to make that distinction.
“There's a difference between him and a buddy sitting there and the buddy pointed a gun at him and didn't know it was loaded,” Stuttle said. “That's an accident. He knowingly, intentionally placed those bullets in that weapon knowing what the outcome could possibly be.
“It's not a good party game.”
Police said on Saturday that Thomas was killed while actively playing the lethal game, but new leads have led police to believe Thomas was shot prior to the game actually beginning, police spokesman Michael Joyner said Monday.
Joyner said because the death was ruled a suicide, police would not be forwarding suggestions of charges to the Allen County Prosecutor's Office against anyone in the home the morning of the incident.
Both Stuttle and Joyner said they can recall other cases of Russian roulette-style deaths, though neither could pinpoint exact cases.
The last similar death reported in The News-Sentinel occurred in June 2000, when city man Ryan J. Rankin fatally shot 21-year-old Bluffton woman Melissa Ryder in a Russian roulette-style shooting at a party. Rankin was convicted of reckless homicide and sentenced to nine years in prison.
Russian roulette is a potentially lethal game of chance in which a player places a round in a revolver, spins the cylinder, puts the gun against his or her head and pulls the trigger.
Said Joyner: “It's very unfortunate. To play with your life like that…”
