A Virginia man who was playing a Medieval knight impaled and killed himself with his 7-foot-long lance during a reenactment performance.
Peter Barclay of Woodbridge, Virginia, who was a retired Army lieutenant colonel, died after he was impaled with his lance in a timed competition on Saturday in Williamstown, Kentucky. Barclay was a longtime and active member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, according to the group's president John Fulton.
Fulton said Barclay was competing in a equestrian game at the Kentucky event inside a large pavilion while spectators watched. In the game, riders had to pick up their lance from a hay bale and then ride, using it to pick up a paper plate.