Police say NY man killed by exploding gender reveal device

Liberty, N.Y. – An expectant father was killed when a device he was building for a gender reveal party exploded, police in New York said Monday.

Christopher Pekny, 28, was assembling a device for his child’s gender reveal party in the Catskills town of Liberty when it exploded just before noon Sunday, state police said.

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Pekny was killed by the blast and his 27-year-old brother, Michael Pekny, was injured, police said. Michael Pekny was treated for his injuries at an area hospital.

The death is the latest in a string of tragedies blamed on faulty gender reveal devices in recent years.

A Michigan man was killed earlier this month when he was struck by shrapnel from a gender reveal cannon being used at a baby shower, authorities said.

Another gender reveal device sparked a September 2020 wildfire that burned thousands of acres in Southern California.