Tombstone: Wild west re-enactment sees two injured after live ammunition used instead of blanks

Two people were wounded on 18 October in Tombstone, Arizona, after real bullets were used during a re-enactment of a famous shoot-out. Officials have since called for all gunfight re-enactments to be put on hold in the historic town.

Officials in Tombstone have said that one actor, Ken Curtis, and one unnamed female bystander were injured when a second actor, Tom Carter, from the Tombstone Vigilante group, fired live rounds instead of blanks during the re-enactment. On their Facebook page, the Tombstone Vigilantes describe themselves as "a non-profit organisation dedicated to keeping the historical town of Tombstone alive through re-enacting events of the era".

Tombstone's marshal said that authorities looked at the weapon and found one live round alongside five bullet casings in the cylinder – indicating that the weapon had been filled with live rounds before the re-enactment.

Curtis was flown to hospital in Tucson to have the bullet removed, whereas the unnamed bystander was hit by shrapnel and refused treatment.

A statement from the Tombstone marshal's office said: "Tombstone takes pride in the safety and security of its townspeople and tourists alike and the citizens of Tombstone can be assured that stringent safety protocol will be enforced prior to allowing any further gunfight skits."

Tombstone was once a thriving mining town but now mostly caters to tourists wanting to see a part of the old west. Tombstone is particularly famous for the OK Corral shooting between outlaw cowboys and local lawmen — the event was fictionalised in the 1957 film Gunfight at the OK Corral, featuring Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas.