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Pain In The Neck At Gettysburg

A Frenchman who came to Gettysburg for a re-enactment of the Civil War battle has been charged with assault after another faux soldier was shot in the neck.

Christian Evo, 52, of Muret, France, didn't mean to shoot Clinton Wakefield Epps last Friday during a reenactment of the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg, State Police Sgt. Patrick Gebhart said Tuesday.

"There was no intent involved, but a recklessness and negligence involved," Gebhart said.

Epps, of Charlottesville, Va., was in satisfactory condition Tuesday with a gunshot wound to the neck.

The three-day event was billed as the largest Civil War reenactment ever, drawing 35,000 spectators.

Evo was arrested Tuesday in Washington, D.C., and was being held for extradition to Pennsylvania. He was charged with simple assault and recklessly endangering another person.

Epps, a re-enactor with the Confederate 7th Virginia regiment infantry, was part of a late afternoon skirmish Friday when he found himself away from his unit, surrounded by Union soldiers and horses. He felt something strike his neck and fell to the ground.

Doctors removed a .44-caliber missile ball from his neck. It was believed to have come from a replica or a Civil War-era revolver.

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