Reports of Unintended Gun Violence Collected from Media Reports Across the United States
Boy Shoots Self with Gun Found in Drawer, and Two Other Children are Shot as Innocent Bystanders In Atlanta, Georgia, a 9-year-old shot himself in the hand playing with an unsecured gun he found in a drawer. Police interviewed the child’s grandmother, who was at home when the shooting occurred, and during their search of …
15-year-old is Killed, and Two Others are Injured in Gun Accidents In Fairmont, North Carolina, a 15-year-old was killed when the gun he was handling unintentionally fired. When police arrived at the home, they found the teen dead from a gunshot wound. Both the school district and police released statements expressing sadness about the tragic …
Gunfire Outside Home Kills 3-year-old Sitting on Sofa Three-year-old Kyron Zarco was shot and killed, and his 9-year-old brother was injured, while they sat on a sofa in their home in Athens, Georgia. Kyron, called “Baby Dro,” was shot in the chest, and his brother’s leg was grazed by a bullet, in what police believe …
One Dead, Three Injured in Unintentional Shootings Today In Atlanta, Georgia, a passenger in the rear seat of a vehicle accidentally discharged a gun fatally striking a 19-year-old in the back. The victim was in the vehicle with two other people and was pronounced dead at the hospital. The person handling the gun was charged …
Store Employee Shot While Loading Groceries into Customer’s Car; Two Others Shot and Injured In Linden, Texas, a store employee was accidentally shot and killed while helping a customer load their vehicle. According to the report, Larry Lawrence, an employee of Crump Food Stores, placed a bag in the rear of a customer’s car near …
Two Toddlers Find Guns: One Kills Himself, One Shoots His Father in the Back Royal Clark, a 1-year-old from Marietta, Georgia, found his father’s loaded gun and fatally shot himself in the head. His father, Conrad Clark, was charged with involuntary manslaughter, reckless conduct and possession of a firearm by a felon. This is the …
Two Young Children Find Loaded Guns, One is Dead In Lithonia, Georgia, Zayre Daugherty, 7, died after he was shot in the head with an unsecured gun. Zayre and his 6-year-old brother were waiting for their father, Dante Daugherty, in a vehicle at a gas station, when the boys found a loaded pistol that their …
Five Unintentional Shootings, Including Two in Vehicles In Jupiter, Florida, a teenage passenger in a vehicle was handling a gun when it unintentionally discharged, fatally striking the driver. The teenager is facing a charge of negligent manslaughter. Police recovered the firearm as they continue to investigate. Another reported shooting in a vehicle, this time in …
Two Children are Injured in Accidental Shootings In Marietta, Georgia, a child was accidentally shot when a gun went off during a struggle between their parents. The child was taken to the hospital, but their condition is not known. Police are continuing to investigate. A shooting in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, injured a 5-year-old girl while she …
Two Women Unintentionally Wounded In Jonesboro, Georgia, the father of 21-year-old Norja’nae Miller’s child, allegedly took her phone during an argument the two were having and left with it. Miller traced the location of her phone to the home of a female acquaintance of the father, where she started a car chase with them. At …
Teens Playing with Guns Injure Three; Two Others Hurt in Separate Accidental Shootings A group of teenagers were “carelessly” handling a gun in LaGrange, Georgia, when one of them, a 15-year-old, was accidentally shot in the face. He was airlifted to the hospital in serious condition. No other information is available at this time. Another …
Deadly Accident After Cleaning Gun; Officer Injured When Backup Weapon Accidentally Fires In Columbus, Ohio, 16-year-old Elisha Judd was killed by 20-year-old Tejuan Stanley when he accidentally fired his gun striking her in the forehead. Stanley had taken apart his gun to clean it, and didn’t realize when it was reassembled that there was a …
Three Unintended Gun Injuries A Memphis, Tennessee child was struck by a bullet that “fell out of the sky” today. The child’s father told Memphis Police that his son was picking up trash in the front yard, when a bullet “fell from a tree, causing his head to hurt.” The child was taken to the …
Three Children Injured as Innocent Bystanders Seven-year-old twins and a ten-year-old were shot and injured today as innocent bystanders to other people’s gun violence. In Atlanta, Georgia, ten-year-old Chase Martice was struck in the thigh by a stray bullet while playing basketball with other children outside his home. No arrests have been made. “We don’t …
Man Shoots Himself in Road Rage Incident A Temple, Georgia man shot himself in the hand while attempting to reholster his gun following a road rage incident. The incident began when a delivery truck caused a backup on the road. Officials say the suspect, who was “clearly impatient and annoyed by the delay,” got out …
January 1, 2023 does not bode well for gun safety in the New Year because there were too many gun accidents to meaningfully consider, including many that appear to have resulted from celebratory gunfire. Among the reported incidents: In Van Buren County, Michigan, 62-year-old Christopher Toppenberg was charged with murder Wednesday in connection with the …
In Atlanta, a 2-year-old found a gun in their home and shot themself. The child’s mother drove them to a fire station and the child is expected to survive. According to the report, there is an ongoing investigation. Source: “2-year-old Accidentally Shoots Themself, Atlanta Police Say,” wsbtv.com (December 22, 2022).
In Chicago, Illinois, a 50-year-old man sitting in his car in a local park was struck by a stray bullet and killed. He was an innocent bystander to a nearby disturbance according to the report. No one is in custody in connection with the shooting. In LaGrange, Georgia, a 15-year-old girl was struck in the …
In Decatur, Georgia, Lashunda Heath-Ellison was critically injured early Wednesday morning when she was shot in the head by a stray bullet while she was at home asleep. Her husband, Mac Ellison, said he woke up shortly after midnight to the sound of his wife’s ragged breathing. When Ellison turned his wife over, he saw …
In Atlanta, Georgia, a 19-year old was accidentally shot and killed at a house party. “All of a sudden we heard the loud noise and came out front because we heard screaming,” a neighbor said. He added, “[t]hat was the impression I got: they were playing around with the gun, and someone somehow fired the …
In Atlanta, Georgia, four-year old Kendall Lewis found a loaded gun in the back seat of her car while her mother was driving on the interstate. She shot and killed herself. Her mother, Kaelin Lewis, was charged with murder. The family remembered Kendall as a “boisterous and lively four-year-old.” She was excited about starting Pre-K. Source: …
A five-year old Middletown, Ohio boy left at home with his 14-year old brother and two other kids found his father’s loaded 9 millimeter pistol in a bedroom and shot himself in the leg. As a result of the investigation, Fernando Enamorado, 31, was charged with “felony endangering children.” According to the report, the boy’s …
Arnijae Stroud, a 21-year old Roswell, Georgia father was arrested today after he accidentally shot and injured his two-year old son. Stroud was “manipulating” a gun in his bedroom when it fired. The child is in stable condition at the hospital. The local police chief said he was proud of the team of first responders …
Janiyah Jenkins, an Atlanta, Georgia four-year old, found her uncle’s loaded and unsecured gun in her home and shot herself in the leg. The round passed into her intestines and Janiyah died at the hospital. Janiyah’s uncle, LeVante Cummings, age 26, was arrested and charged with second degree murder and cruelty to a child. He …
Four-year old Miyell Hernandez of Lithonia, Georgia, found a loaded gun in his mother’s car while she was at the grocery store and shot and killed himself. Miyell was waiting for her with two other children when the accident occurred. “We talked all the time,” said Miyell’s grandmother, April Griffin. “I never felt that kind …
A Robstown, Texas man was charged with manslaughter after he accidentally shot and killed 47-year old Patricia Blanco. The man, Arturo Gonzalez, age 50, admitted to officers that he was very drunk when his revolver “went off.” In Cumming, Georgia, a teenager was arrested on multiple charges after he shot another boy in the chest …
Three children, aged 4, 7, and 11 were shot and injured or killed when they found loaded guns today. A fourth child, age 14, was shot and killed with a ghost gun he had built. In Lexington, Kentucky, a four-year old was injured in a gun accident that police have determined was accidental. However, the …
In Atlanta, Georgia, a 6-month old child was killed in the crossfire of an incident in which two people were shooting at each other outside a local Food Mart. A bullet fired on the street passed into the car where the child was strapped into the back seat. According to a report, the death of …
A Storm Lake, Iowa nine-year old was struck in the lower body by an accidentally fired handgun round today. Another child living in the home had found an unsecured gun and fired it. The child is expected to survive. Two children, an 11-month old in the Bronx, New York and a five-year old in Atlanta, …
During an argument at an Atlanta, Georgia CVS, a man accidentally shot himself with his own gun. He had apparently pulled the gun during an argument with another pharmacy patron about misuse of the victim’s cell phone. According to a somewhat confusing report, the other man had borrowed the victim’s phone purportedly make an emergency …
Children were shot as innocent bystanders in three separate incidents today. In Kenner, Louisiana, a 10-year old was shot while he was sleeping. He is in stable condition at the hospital. Police are investigating the connection between today’s incident and an incident in July, in which a 15-year old was killed in the same home. …
In Dunwoody, Georgia, a man shot himself in his car while in the parking lot at a local Walmart. Although he first told police someone else shot him, he later acknowledged that he had shot himself while adjusting his own gun. He was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. This is the second …
In North Hollywood, California, Valentina Orellana-Peralta, a 14-year old girl who was shopping for a quinceañera dress, was accidentally shot and killed in a department store dressing room when a bullet passed through a wall during a police action at the store. She died at the scene. Los Angeles police were shooting at an assault …
In Atlanta, Georgia, a one-year old who was left alone with her pre-school age brother and a loaded gun was accidentally shot. She is in critical condition at the hospital. A police lieutenant said though it was “a tragic accident,” charges could be filed. “Please put guns away. This is now the second time in …
Kayden Jones, age 8, of Atlanta, Georgia was accidentally shot and killed at his home. Family and friends released red and blue balloons on Sunday at a vigil in his honor. “We’ve been crying all night, all morning,” a neighbor said. “How can you constantly keep trying to explain and get another seven or eight-year-old …
Johnnel Green of Marietta, Georgia was arrested today after leaving a loaded semi-automatic pistol on a patio chair at a home he was visiting. Two cousins, a four-year old and a two-year old, found the gun. The four-year old apparently fired a single round and both children were injured. After the incident, Green apparently left …
One child was killed and three were injured in accidental shootings today. In each case, reports of the incident contain minimal details. In Dallas, Texas, 17-year old Chadrick Good was shot and killed by a 16-year old who accidentally fired a gun while sitting behind Good in a vehicle. The 16-year old has been charged …
An Atlanta, Georgia three-year old shot himself in the hand when he found a loaded gun in his home. The boy’s mother was in the next room at the time of the incident. The boy is in stable condition at the hospital. And no decision has been made about whether his mother will be charged. …
Three young girls were struck by bullets and injured in unrelated incidents today. Two children were shot in their homes. A third was in a car when she was struck. In each case, it is clear the child was not the intended target of gun violence. No suspects are in custody. In the first incident, …
On the 8th anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, at least four children were killed or injured in gun accidents. Three of the incidents involved guns that were found by the children themselves or by other children. The fourth involved a child who was hit by a stray bullet while walking on the …
At Lenox Square Mall in Atlanta, Georgia, a city plagued with recent gun violence, police responded to shots fired inside the Neiman Marcus store. Police concluded that “the gunfire was the result of a person walking through the store and adjusting his pants when the firearm he had in his waistband went off.” No one …
At least three children were victims of gun accidents today; two were killed and one was wounded. The accidents occurred in Georgia, California and Ohio. Five-year old Jada Willingham was killed in Lithonia, Georgia after being shot by another child who found a gun in her home. Police arrested 35-year old Chad Brooks, Sr. whose …
Four teenagers were accidentally shot today in separate incidents. Three of the teens shot themselves. Two of the incidents, though unrelated, occurred at the same apartment complex in Atlanta, Georgia, just blocks away from where another teen had been accidentally shot last week. In Augusta, Georgia, a 14-year old boy shot himself in the hip …
For the second time this week, a woman was mistaken for an intruder in the middle of the night and shot by her partner. In an incident that bears a startling similarity to one reported in Utah on Tuesday of this week, a man was woken by noise in his home and grabbed a loaded …
Two more children died this week in gun accidents that might have been prevented by safe storage laws. Also today, a popular former North Carolina law enforcement officer died while working in Hawaii when a rifle accidentally fired inside a police station. In Memphis, Tennessee, a 14-year old girl died when a boy was handing her …
In LaGrange, Georgia, 22-year old Haley Newsom was shot in the head and killed in an apparent gun accident on Sunday. According to a statement issued by the Troup County Sheriff’s Office: “After speaking with witnesses in the home, investigators have determined that the following occurred. A 17-year-old white male identified as Cameryn Phillips was …
In Atlanta, Georgia, a 6-year old boy was shot and killed by a young sibling who found a gun. “During the course of the investigation, it was determined that the siblings of the victim, ages 8 and 4, were also present during the shooting,” a police spokesman said in a news release. “Preliminary investigation …
In White, Georgia, a five-year old girl shot and killed herself while playing with a gun she found at a campsite. Her grandmother, Kimberly Anne Roberts, and an unrelated man were arrested and charged with felony involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct. Both adults are being held at Bartow County Jail. Source: Asia Simone Burns, “Grandmother, …
Three children and an adult were killed in gun accidents today. The adult was shot to death by his two-year old child. Each of the news stories marking these deaths was brief: In Ooltewah, Tennessee, Jermaine Vincent, a three-year old, found a gun that a family friend had brought to his home and fatally shot …
In a continuing epidemic of young children being caught in the cross-fire of gun violence among adults, a 7-year old was shot and killed in his home during an argument in Clayton County, Georgia. According to a report, “[t]he shooting was the result of an altercation between [an] 18-year-old and the occupants of a white …
Daryl Gunnison, a 28-year old Atlanta, Georgia man was shot by his girlfriend, who was playing with a gun. This is the second report of a serious gun accident in Atlanta in two days. Gunnison was shot in the chest. He was taken to the hospital for treatment of his injuries, where he later died. …
A three-year old girl and her father were both injured in Atlanta, Georgia, when the father’s gun accidentally went off while he was handling it inside their apartment. The father, Sahir Duvall, was shot in the hand and his daughter was shot in the neck. Duvall drove them both to the hospital where they were …
A 15-year old Jasper, Georgia boy was struck by shrapnel at a Walmart when Pickens County Sheriff Donnie Craig’s pistol accidentally discharged during a “Shop with the Sheriff” event at the store. The boy’s injuries were minor. According to the Sheriff’s office, the gun was in the sheriff’s waistband went it went off. The bullet …