Man orders TV from Amazon, receives gun instead

Seth Horvitz ordered a new television online. Instead, he recieved a large, illegal gun. (Dave Cole / Twitter)When Seth Horvitz purchased a new TV online to share with his pregnant wife, he didn't expect her to recoil in horror when he opened the package it came in.

Then again, he didn't expect that package to contain a high-calibre, semi-automatic weapon.

Horvitz, a Northeast D.C. resident, told dcist.com that he was shocked to receive a 37-inch-long gun instead of the 39-inch flatscreen he'd ordered from Amazon.com earlier this week.

"Basically, 'Get that out of here now'," was his wife's reaction to the surprise Sig Sauer SIG716, an assault rifle illegal to own or be in possession of in their state.

Yet, because transporting the weapon anywhere within D.C. would also be against the law, Horvitz couldn't bring the weapon to police himself. He had to contact the Metropolitain Police Department to inspect and confiscate it.

Officers are still trying to determine how the gun ended up in Horvitz's apartment building, rather than at the Pennsylvania gun shop it was intended for.

"When I brought [the package] in and opened it, I was totally shocked," said Horvitz, who had purchased plenty of items online in the past. "Items get mixed up sometimes, but never on this scale... I didn't think I was getting into a gun/electronics dealer."

Horvitz has since filed a claim with Amazon about receiving the wrong product, but a representative from the company told dcist that it was not involved in the shipment, as the television was ordered from a third party merchant through Amazon.com.

Do you shop online? Have you ever received a surprise item or something different from what you ordered? Share your stories in the comment section below.