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Police say NY man killed by exploding gender reveal device

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Posted at 2:58 PM, Feb 22, 2021
and last updated 2021-02-22 14:58:04-05

LIBERTY, N.Y. (AP) — Police in New York say an expectant father was killed when a device he was building for a gender reveal party exploded.

State police say 28-year-old Christopher Pekny was assembling a device for his child's gender reveal party in the Catskills town of Liberty when it exploded just before noon Sunday.

Police say Pekny was killed by the blast and his 27-year-old brother, Michael Pekny, was injured.

Michael Pekny was treated for his injuries at an area hospital.

The death is the latest in a string of tragedies blamed on faulty gender reveal devices in recent years.

According to The Associated Press, a few weeks ago, a man in Michigan was killed when shrapnel from a gender reveal cannon struck him.

In September 2020, a gender reveal device caused a massive wildfire in Southern California, burning thousands of acres, The AP reported.