In the stillness of a Memphis night, what should have been an ordinary moment between friends spiraled into something surreal. Jerald Kirkwood lay talking beside a woman he trusted, while Oreo, the excitable young pit bull, bounded into the room. In a split second, the dog’s paw found the trigger guard of a gun that never should have been left on the floor. The shot tore into Kirkwood’s leg, turning confusion into panic.
As Kirkwood bled, the woman fled, taking the weapon and many of the answers with her. Paramedics stabilized him, police documented a single shell casing, and the incident was filed away as an accident. Yet the questions linger: why was the gun there, why did she run, and how much of this strange tale will ever truly be known? In the end, only Jerald, the missing woman, and Oreo know what really happened.