Liberty, NY Man Killed in Gender Reveal Explosion
A father in Liberty, New York died in an explosion while creating a device for his unborn child's gender reveal party.
On Sunday, February 21, 2021, a man in Liberty was creating a device with his brother for a gender reveal party. According to a press release from the New York State Troopers Troop F, Christopher Pekny, 28, was killed in an explosion while creating the device. Christopher Pekny was the father of the baby for which the gender reveal party was being thrown for. His brother, Michael Pekny, 27, who is also from Liberty, New York, was injured in the explosion.
Trooper Steven Nevel, the Public Information Officer of New York State Troopers Troop F, said the device was not intended to be explosive. Rather, the device was intended to be like a "popper" and the powder from the device would be either blue or pink, depending on the gender of the baby.
Michael Pekny was transported to Garnet Medical Center in Middletown, New York. Garnet Medical Center was formerly Orange Regional Medical Center or ORMC. At this time, the press release states the incident is under investigation by both the New York State Police and the New York State Police Bomb Disposal Unit.
The full press release from the New York State Troopers Troop F states:
On February 21, 2021, at approximately 11:55 a.m., State Police Liberty responded to a residence on the Lt. JG Brender Highway in the town of Liberty for a report of an explosion. An investigation revealed that Christopher Pekny, age 28, from the town of Liberty was building a device to be used at a child gender reveal party. The device exploded resulting in the death of Christopher Pekny and injuring his brother Michael Pekny, age 27, also of Liberty, who was transported to Garnet Medical Center in Middletown, NY. This incident remains under investigation by the New York State Police and the New York State Police Bomb Disposal Unit.