Five-year-old Boy Kills Himself with Unsecured Gun and Two Law Enforcement Officers Unintentionally Shoot Themselves

A five-year-old boy found an unsecured gun and unintentionally shot and killed himself in Gary, Indiana. A 32-year-old man was to check in on a 17-year-old girl and the boy while adults were away. He arrived at the home after a night out, placed his handgun down and fell asleep. He was awakened when the gun discharged, and the child was shot. There is an ongoing investigation.

An off-duty police officer, Christopher Campos, 27, unintentionally shot himself in the leg during an arrest attempt in Queens, New York. The officer had initially clashed with two brothers in a road-rage incident that ended with one of the brothers smashing a window of Campos’s car. Campos identified himself as a police officer and tried to arrest the brother for breaking his window. During a scuffle for his gun, Campos fired a shot that wounded him in the leg and struck one of the brothers in the hand. The brothers have been charged with first-degree assault, assault on a police officer, strangulation and criminal possession of a weapon.

And in San Antonio, Texas, a 10-year veteran police detective, John Helle, accidentally shot himself in the torso during a deadly shootout. Police were tailing a stolen vehicle, and after blocking it in a parking lot, the driver fled on foot. He pulled out a gun and started firing on police who returned fire, killing him. Helle shot himself during that exchange and is recovering in the hospital.

Sources:

“5-year-old Boy Shot, Killed Inside Home: Gary Police,” abc7chicago.com (August 30, 2023).

Anna Gratzer, Leonard Greene, “NYPD Officer Shot Himself in Queens Road-Rage Scuffle with Two Brothers,” nydailynews.com (September 1, 2023).

“San Antonio Detective Accidentally Shoots Himself During Deadly Confrontation in Home Depot Parking Lot,” news4sanantonio.com (September 1, 2023).