On the night of November 24, 2022, 19-year-old Jesse Wayne Krausnick was shot and killed at a gathering in Imperial, Nebraska. Krausnick, home from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for the Thanksgiving holiday, was at the residence of a friend, 19-year-old Tristan Ferguson, when Ferguson picked up a shotgun, believed it to be unloaded, pointed it at Krausnick and pulled the trigger. Krausnick was taken to Chase County Community Hospital but died shortly after arrival.

The Imperial Police Department and the Chase County Sheriff’s Office responded and Ferguson was taken into custody that night. The Nebraska State Patrol was called in to lead the homicide investigation. Ferguson was charged with manslaughter, use of a weapon to commit a felony, and related counts tied to providing alcohol to minors; he was booked into the Chase County Jail and later released on bond.

What did anyone at the gathering notice that night about the shotgun or the interactions between the two young men?