Anthony Ernest Herman

A homemade cannon exploded during a weekend holiday celebration in Newaygo County, causing the death of a Howard City man.

According to the Michigan State Police Hart Post, the accident occurred on Sunday, July 3, in Croton Township, shortly before 10:46 p.m. That was when Newaygo County dispatch received a 911 call about a man possibly in cardiac arrest, and an ambulance was requested. Life EMS and Croton Township fire and first responders were dispatched to the scene. Michigan State Police Troopers also responded to the scene.

Troopers found someone administering CPR when they arrived, and Life EMS took over when they arrived. The victim, Anthony Ernest Herman, 46, was pronounced dead at the scene at 11:29 p.m.

Police found that he had been shooting a homemade cannon when it exploded and that a piece of metal from the cannon hit him in the chest.

WOODTV reported that neighbors at Pettit Lake, where the accident occurred, said he had been firing the cannon all day.

A teen in Texas was also tragically injured over the holiday weekend, when he created a homemade sparkler bomb with 180 sparklers and electrical tape. It went off as soon as he lit it, leaving a four-foot hole in the ground, and causing the teen to lose his leg and possibly his eyesight.