Man orders flat-screen, gets semi-automatic

Dick Uliano, wtop.com

WASHINGTON – Delivery mistakes happen. But Seth Horvitz of Northeast is demanding that someone explain the mix-up that put a high-caliber assault rifle on his doorstep.

Horvitz, a 38-year-old musician from San Francisco, who moved here last year, says he ordered a flat-screen TV from Amazon but the cardboard box delivered to his Brookland home contained the weapon.

“Even as I opened it, there were some metal parts, I thought, oh, maybe these go with the TV,” Horvitz told Channel 9 News.

But, as he peeled away the packing material, Horvitz laid eyes on a Sig Sauer semi-automatic rifle.

“As I opened the foam up a little further it was a kind of a huge shock to see that this was a military-grade rifle,” Horvitz told Channel 9.

Horvitz had ordered a $324, 39-inch flat-screen TV from a third party seller on Amazon.

The packaged delivered to his home bore a shipping label with Horvitz’s name and address, but the invoice inside indicated the $1,600 weapon was supposed to go to a Pennsylvania gun dealer.

The Metropolitan Police Department is investigating.

“I would like to know how this mix up could take place,” Horvitz told Channel 9.

Horvitz said the gun made him think about the recent mass shootings at the movie theater in Aurora, Colo. and the Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wis.

“I don’t want to be in a situation where this type of weapon can just show up on someone’s doorstep, accidentally.”

The Florida Gun Exchange says the weapon was shipped with the proper label says it’s looking to UPS for answers, according to Fox 5.

Watch Fox 5’s story:

DC Breaking Local News Weather Sports FOX 5 WTTG

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(Copyright 2012 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)

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