Freemasons Kill A Man During Initiation Ceremony

William James (47) died from a gun shot to the head during initiation rights into 2nd degree of the Freemason order. He was shot with a .32 caliber hand gun fired by Freemason Albert Eid (76) from 20 feet away. Even though a grand master of New York State Freemasons said that guns were not part of any initiation rights, members of the Patchogue lodge stated that the rite they were performing has history going back at least 70 years.<br/></br> <br/></br> Albert had two guns - one with live rounds (the .32) and the other with blanks. He stated he was supposed to shoot the .22 pistol with blanks in it, and then someone would knock a tin can over as if it had been shot. The problem with the story is that Albert nor the news articles never state why he had a loaded weapon in the first place if they were just playing, making the initiate think that they had a loaded gun.