Nine-year-old Shot Playing Outside With Friends; Teen Shot on School Bus

In Newport News, Virginia, nine-year-old Zion Rodriguez told reporters how he got shot in the foot while he was playing outside with his friends. He said one friend showed him what he thought was a BB gun. “I was trying to tell my cousins it was time to leave, but I got scared, so I didn’t say anything,” said Zion. “He dropped the gun on accident. He tried to catch it, and then he accidentally pulled the trigger, and then it ricocheted off of something and then it hit my foot. It was scary.” Zion is expected to make a full recovery. Officials are investigating.

And in Redford, Michigan, a 15-year-old boy had a gun in his backpack that discharged on a school bus, injuring another 15-year-old boy’s hand. The shooting occurred while the bus was outside the high school. Officials closed the school the following day “…to allow our school community time to process and heal.…” The victim is in stable condition at the hospital, and the teen who had the gun was charged with carrying a concealed weapon, careless discharge of a firearm causing injury, and possession of a weapon in a weapons-free school zone.

Source:

Shane Fordham, “9-year-old Speaks Out After Being Shot Outside of His Home in Newport News,” 13newsnow.com (May 10, 2025).

Lily Altavena, “Teen Charged in Shooting on School Bus in Redford Township,” freep.com (May 8, 2025).