Teen Unintentionally Shoots His Brother and Once Again Many People are Injured by Celebratory Gunfire on Independence Day
In Choctaw, Oklahoma, two brothers, 12- and 14-years-old, were waiting in a minivan in a Walmart parking lot when the older brother accidentally shot his sibling once in the chest. The 12-year-old was responsive and taken to the hospital for surgery. The boys are relatives of an employee of the Oklahoma City Police Department, but it is unclear if the gun was a service weapon. The investigation remains ongoing.
And across the country, there were numerous accounts of people struck by gunfire while watching fireworks.
Bryan Robles Jr., 6, was hit in the head by a stray bullet while watching fireworks in Los Angeles, California. He was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. No arrest has been made, and police said it would be very difficult to trace the bullet to a particular shooter when so many guns were fired in the area.
In Nashville, Tennessee, Richard Martocci is recovering after being shot in the knee while sitting in his lawnchair watching fireworks. Police said that there were at least two other people reported wounded by celebratory gunfire.
In Tulsa, Oklahoma a man was injured by a stray bullet while people were lighting fireworks in a local park. No arrests have been made.
Police found a 61-year-old man from Hamilton, Ohio with a gunshot wound to his chest at the venue of the evening’s fireworks celebration. A preliminary investigation disclosed that he was most likely struck by a bullet from celebratory gunfire a distance away from the festivities.
Sylvia McKeller, a 51-year-old woman in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, was sitting on a front lawn watching fireworks with friends, when she was shot in the chest by a stray bullet. The investigation is ongoing.
And at least four people were injured by celebratory gunfire in Kansas City, Missouri. Of those reported, one person was shot in the chest and another struck in the head. “Do not shoot your gun randomly into the air to celebrate,” said the police chief. “At some point, someone is going to get hurt or killed…”
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