At least five people died in unintended shootings in the United States today.
In Charlotte, North Carolina, Demario Warren, a four-year-old, apparently found gun in his home and accidentally shot and killed himself. Dayshawn St’Paul Warren, the boy’s father, was arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter. “This isn’t a situation where we are asking the public to help us figure out who’s responsible,” a police officer said. “This is a situation where we’re just asking the public to pray for this family as they’ve lost a loved one.”
In Tamaqua, Pennsylvania, a 19-year old was shot and killed while playing with a gun with a group of teens in the basement of their homes. They teens found the gun in a drawer.
Joseph Hauser, a 30-year-old Mount Orab, Ohio man, was shot dead in his yard by a gun he was carrying in a pocket of his sweatshirt. Investigating police say “a 9mm handgun was found in Hauser’s front sweatshirt pocket, with a single shell casing found in the same pocket of the sweatshirt.” Officials added that “fabric from the sweatshirt was found to be lodged in the side of the firearm and the gun appeared to have gone off” while inside his pocket.
In Brownsville, Texas, “Oziel Alejandro Munoz, 19, is accused in the shooting death of 27-year-old Ruben Garcia.” Garcia was the common law husband of Munoz’s sister and the father of his five-year old nephew. Munoz’s nephew was present when the incident accident occurred. “Both subjects started to play around with Munoz’s loaded black semi-automatic handgun,” Brownsville police said in a statement. “At one point, the gun was pointed at the victim’s head, and a round was fired.” Munoz is charged with manslaughter.
Finally, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Jahiem Burns is accused of manslaughter after unintentionally shooting his best friend while playing video games. Burns told police the two were playing the video game Grand Theft Auto all day and “talking smack,” according to the complaint. Burns said that, at one point, his friend pulled out a gun, cocked it and pointed it at Burns, which “was a common occurrence.” Burns grabbed the gun and it went off while the two were wrestling over it.
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