One Teen is Dead, One Injured in Accidental Shootings

Matthew Elijah Espinoza, an 18-year-old in Dallas, Texas, was accidentally shot and killed. Vincent Michael Corral, also 18, was holding the gun when he shot Espinoza. He has been charged with criminally negligent homicide.

And a 16-year-old boy in Akron, Ohio, was hospitalized in critical condition after being accidentally shot by his 17-year-old, life-long friend. The older boy was staying with his friend for the past few months. The boys got a hold of a gun that belonged to the 16-year-old’s father. The gun discharged while the 17-year-old was holding it, and he was taken into custody and charged with felonious assault. It’s unclear if the gun was secured or how the boys got it. The police chief said he wants to “remind folks that when they have firearms in the house, to make sure they’re taking care of those in a safe manner—locked up or a lock on the firearm or with the ammunition and the firearm in separate places so that we can avoid these types of incidents.”

[Note:  In the opinion of the authors of this website, the final “or” in the police chief’s advice should be “and.”  Even for guns that are locked, ammunition should be locked and stored separately.  Certainly, teenage boys can find both an unsecured gun and unsecured ammunition, so simply leaving them stored unsecured but separately is not a safe storage practice.]

Sources:

Sarah Bahari, “Teenager Arrested in Accidental Fatal Shooting in Far East Dallas,” dallasnews.com (December 8, 2023).

Drew Schofield, “16-year-old Boy in Critical Condition After Being Accidentally Shot in Springfield Township,” news5cleveland.com (December 9, 2023).