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Dinner party conversation can be difficult, but for Seth Horvitz, the high-caliber assault rifle he mistakenly received through Amazon.com was the perfect centerpiece.
Horvitz was immediately suspicious of the package that arrived on his doorstep Tuesday because its size and shape didn’t appear to match the flat screen television he’d ordered. Expecting a used Westinghouse 39-inch LED television that he ordered from a third party vendor on Amazon, what he found instead was a 7.6 pound, 37-inch-long Sig Sauer SIG716.
“I was just in shock and in disbelief really,” Horvitz told ABC News in a phone interview.
“I flagged down the UPS guy on his way out of the building and asked him if there is anything else for me, thinking there would be multiple boxes,” he said. “I thought the box could be accessories for the TV. ”
But there was nothing else for Horvitz in the UPS truck, and he didn’t have much time to panic – guests soon started arriving for a North African, Mediterranean-themed dinner party he was hosting.
But not even the exotic cuisine could distract from the Swiss assault rifle on display in the apartment.
“We were all kind of nervously joking about it for awhile,” Horvitz said. “Everyone was asking about the gun, and they started looking up information about it.”
What did they discover? It’s illegal to possess assault rifles in the District of Colombia. Horvitz said as soon as he realized it was an illegal weapon, he contacted D.C. Metropolitan Police Department.
Metro Police sent down two officers, who quickly confiscated the weapon. Metro police Officer Tisha Gant said there is a pending investigation as to how the mishap occurred, and the department offered no further comment at this time.
Micael Turturro, the third-party vendor, told ABC News he would not comment on the situation until he had all the facts. Independence Gun Shop, the Duncansville, Pa., gun retail shop from which the assault rifle originated, has not responded to our request for comment.
Horvitz filed a complaint with Amazon, but the company is not responsible for shipping products from third party vendors.
There’s still no word on what happened to the television, but Horvitz has been fully refunded.
Dinner party conversation can be difficult, but for Seth Horvitz, the high-caliber assault rifle he mistakenly received through Amazon.com was the perfect centerpiece.
Horvitz was immediately suspicious of the package that arrived on his doorstep Tuesday because its size and shape didn’t appear to match the flat screen television he’d ordered. Expecting a used Westinghouse 39-inch LED television that he ordered from a third party vendor on Amazon, what he found instead was a 7.6 pound, 37-inch-long Sig Sauer SIG716.
“I was just in shock and in disbelief really,” Horvitz told ABC News in a phone interview.
“I flagged down the UPS guy on his way out of the building and asked him if there is anything else for me, thinking there would be multiple boxes,” he said. “I thought the box could be accessories for the TV. ”
But there was nothing else for Horvitz in the UPS truck, and he didn’t have much time to panic – guests soon started arriving for a North African, Mediterranean-themed dinner party he was hosting.
But not even the exotic cuisine could distract from the Swiss assault rifle on display in the apartment.
“We were all kind of nervously joking about it for awhile,” Horvitz said. “Everyone was asking about the gun, and they started looking up information about it.”
What did they discover? It’s illegal to possess assault rifles in the District of Colombia. Horvitz said as soon as he realized it was an illegal weapon, he contacted D.C. Metropolitan Police Department.
Metro Police sent down two officers, who quickly confiscated the weapon. Metro police Officer Tisha Gant said there is a pending investigation as to how the mishap occurred, and the department offered no further comment at this time.
Micael Turturro, the third-party vendor, told ABC News he would not comment on the situation until he had all the facts. Independence Gun Shop, the Duncansville, Pa., gun retail shop from which the assault rifle originated, has not responded to our request for comment.
Horvitz filed a complaint with Amazon, but the company is not responsible for shipping products from third party vendors.
There’s still no word on what happened to the television, but Horvitz has been fully refunded.
“I’m not really concerned about the TV,” he said. “This package with an assault weapon could have shown up on any doorstep. I hope it will be prevented in the future.”
