Fact Check

Was George Zimmerman Found Dead After Accidentally Shooting Himself While Loading Gun?

This story originated on a satirical website in March 2014.

Published March 12, 2014

Claim:
George Zimmerman accidentally shot and killed himself while loading a gun.

Origin

In March 2014, the Cream Bmp Daily web site published an article positing that George Zimmerman, the man charged (and ultimately acquitted) in the fatal shooting of teenager Trayvon Martin in February 2012, had accidentally shot and killed himself while loading a gun:

911 first responders found George Zimmerman’s lifeless body at a Florida gun range after responding to an emergency call that he shot himself while loading his weapon.

"I'm not saying we took our time getting there, but we've shown up faster to black neighborhoods." According to a first responder, they stopped at every light, didn't use a siren and drove behind an elderly woman all before finally arriving on the scene. "If he was a rapper he'd be more famous now that he's dead, but nope! Everybody just glad he's dead."

Soon afterwards links and excerpts referencing this item were being circulated via social media, with many of those who encountered it mistaking it for a genuine news article. However, this item was just a spoof — as noted in Cream Bmp Daily's "About" page, that web site deals strictly in satire:

CreamBmp.com Written by comedian CREAM. This website is comprised of satire and parody of current news and urban culture. For entertainment purposes only.


Sources

Cream BMP. "George Zimmerman Found Dead After Accidentally Shooting Himself While Loading Gun…"
March 2014.

Sunday Mercury. "Crazy World."
28 June 2009 (p. 26).

David Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994.

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