Published: August 07, 2008 01:14 pm            

BREAKING NEWS: Mayor’s husband recovering from gunshot wound

By Raymond Billy

rbilly@jacksonvilleprogress.com

RUSK—The husband of Rusk Mayor Angela Raiborn was seriously injured in a gun accident Tuesday night, city officials have confirmed.

Mark Raiborn, 39, who co-owns Birmingham Forest Golf Club with the mayor, accidentally shot himself about 10:45 p.m. Tuesday while trying to protect the club’s greens from animals that frequently make way to the golf course and can cause damage to it. He had for the past couple of months set his alarm in order to wake up every three hours at night to move water sprinklers and shoot armadillos that were tearing up Birmingham Forest’s greens.

Mark Raiborn's .22 caliber rifle — which he uses to keep armadillos from destroying the greens — went off when it fell from a shelf and hit the floor, hitting him in the cheek bone and exiting through the top of his head. He was responsive when EMS workers arrived, and he reacted “appropriately” to their prompts. That he avoided more serious injury was miraculous, city officials said.

Rusk City Manager Mike Murray said he feared the worst when he first learned of the nature of the accident.

“We were initially afraid the accident was life-threatening. Whenever something like that happens, you always fear the worst, but it turned out not to be as bad as we first feared,” said Murray, who was informed of the accident by the Rusk Volunteer Fire Department about 10:50 p.m.

Mark Raiborn was taken to the emergency room of East Texas Medical Center in Rusk. After being stabilized there, he was flown by helicopter to ETMC-Tyler where he arrived about 11:45 p.m. He is currently in the intensive care unit of ETMC-Tyler. He is reportedly doing fine and will not need constructive surgery on his cheek. Right now doctors are waiting for the swelling to go down. A fraction of an inch difference in the bullet’s location could have made the injury much more severe, officials said. Mayor Raiborn has been with her husband in Tyler since the accident. She was unable to be reached for comment.

“Please keep Mark and his family in your prayers as he recovers from his injuries,” Murray requested of the citizens of Rusk and Cherokee County.

        

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