Man loses leg after shooting lawn mower full of explosives

ATLANTA — A Georgia man who was videotaped last week shooting at a lawn mower packed with explosives lost his leg in the resulting explosion, authorities say.

According to the Walton County Sheriff’s Department, a deputy responded to a 911 call Saturday about an explosion. The caller reported that 32-year-old David Pressley was shooting at a mixture of ammonium nitrate and aluminum powder in the woods and "had possibly blown his legs off from the explosion."

Two of Pressley's friends fashioned a tourniquet around his leg, helped him into the front seat of a vehicle and drove him to a nearby road. EMS met the group there.

"EMS advised David was missing his left leg below the knee," the Sheriff’s Department report says.

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Pressley was airlifted to Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, and is now recovering from the incident.

One of Pressley's friends told investigators they put three pounds of Tannerite into an old lawn mower "to blow it up." The incident was captured on video.

The video shows Pressley dressed in what appears to be a tactical vest, shooting a semi-automatic rifle at the lawn mower, getting off more than 20 shots. On the last shot, the lawnmower explodes. Shrapnel can be seen flying in all direction.

"I blew my leg off!" Pressley yells.

"Call an ambulance! Call an ambulance!" another voice is heard yelling.

Tannerite is the brand name of a combination of ammonium nitrate and aluminum powder. When mixed and shot with a high-velocity bullet, it creates a loud noise and explosion. Videos showing such explosions have become popular on the Internet.

"We get a lot of calls about Tannerite. It can be extremely dangerous if it is not used correctly," Walton County Sheriff Joe Chapman says.