Novice mason shot dead in initiation ritual

A masonic initiation ritual intended to scare new members went tragically wrong when a gun firing blanks was accidentally swapped for one with live ammunition.

As members of the Southside Masonic Lodge in Patchogue, New York looked on, novice William James was shot dead when one of the inner circle fired the wrong gun.

Albert Eid, 76, who had a starting pistol in one pocket and a loaded .32 calibre gun in the other, was meant to "shoot" the fake as a pile of tin cans was toppled to startle Mr James. Instead he reached into the wrong pocket and shot the 47-year-old father of two in the head.

Other masons called the police who arrested Mr Eid for second degree manslaughter. He was later freed on £1,500 bail.

A police spokesman said the 10 people at the ritual were "quite stunned" as Mr James slumped dead in a chair. His widow, Wendy, said those present refused to say what had happened. "They can at least tell me, 'I'm sorry.' They were supposed to be Bill's brothers. Well brothers don't treat brothers that way."

Mr James was being inducted into the Mason's Fellowcraft Club. Other lodge rituals included snapping rat traps in the faces of initiates and forcing them to walk a plank. The temple also had a guillotine in a basement.

The Grand Lodge said guns were not normally used in its rituals.