A woman was killed at a "gender reveal" party after being struck by shrapnel from an explosive contraption: "a metal stand, gunpowder and colored powder were involved," report police.
At about 4:03 p.m., police responded to a report that a woman, later identified as 56-year-old Pamela Kreimeyer, had been severely injured in an explosion, according to a news release from the Marion County Sheriff's Office. When officials arrived at the scene in Knoxville, the woman was pronounced dead. Knoxville is about 40 miles southeast of Des Moines.
Kreimeyer was 45 feet from the device when it exploded. It created a 200-yard wide debris field.
They put a piece of wood on top of the gunpowder and some powder of an unspecified color on top of that. The stand had a hole drilled in the side for a fuse. Finally, tape was wrapped over the top of the assembly. The idea was for the gunpowder to blast the powder indicating a boy or girl out the top of the stand. But the explosion instead sent metal shrapnel flying
Police are "warning people to not add to or make your own gender reveal kits."
