Reports of Unintended Gun Violence Collected from Media Reports Across the United States
Three Gun Accidents Involving Children Eight-year-old Phillipé Woodward shot and killed himself while playing with a loaded shotgun he found in his grandmother’s home in Nashville, Tennessee. He was alone in the home with his 10-year-old brother and a 16-year-old family friend. There is a continuing investigation into the shooting. In a Texarkana, Arkansas home, an eight-year-old found …
Three Unintentional Shootings Result in One Person Dead, Two Others Injured, Including a Three-year-old Boy In Nashville, Tennessee, Bentley Delancy, age 15, and a 16-year-old were playing with a semi-automatic pistol when it unintentionally discharged, striking Delancy in the neck. He died later at the hospital. The pistol belonged to an 18-year-old, and police are trying to …
Three-year-old Kills Self with Father’s Gun Left on Bedroom Floor In a Nashville, Tennessee apartment, three-year-old Aydeen Pruitt found his father’s pistol on a bedroom floor and fatally shot himself in the head. The toddler’s father, 23-year-old D’Andre Pruitt, told police he had put the gun on the floor but didn’t realize that Aydeen was …
Three-year-old Girl Shot and Killed by Six-year-old Brother; Other Americans Injured by Celebratory Gunfire In Little Rock, Arkansas, a three-year-old girl was shot and killed at home. Police believe that her six-year-old brother found a loaded gun and shot her but are continuing to investigate. The little girl died at the hospital. And, as is …
Two Injured in Unintended Shootings A firefighter was treated for minor injuries after he unintentionally shot himself in a Phoenix, Arizona fire station. He was placed on administrative leave as police investigate the incident to determine what happened. And in Nashville, Tennessee, two men allegedly assaulted an employee in the parking lot of a convenience store when he …
Teen Critically Injured After Shooting Self in Leg In Nashville, Tennessee, a teenager was taken to the hospital in critical condition after shooting themself in the leg with a gun they were handling. No other information has been reported. Source: “Police: Teen ‘Mishandling Gun’ on Charlotte Pike Shoots Self in Leg,” fox17.com (May 30, 2024).
Two Killed in Gun Accidents Involving Toddlers Two-year-old Legend Davidson shot and killed himself after finding an unsecured gun inside a home in Euclid, Ohio. No charges have been filed, but there is an ongoing investigation. And 25-year-old Elonshe Williams was shot and killed while visiting a friend and her two children in an apartment …
Three Juveniles and Police Chief Injured in Separate Unintentional Shootings In Savannah, Georgia, a 9-year-old boy accidentally shot himself. Few details have been reported, but police say the boy was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. A juvenile in Nashville, Tennessee, was accidentally shot through the arm and taken to the hospital for treatment. …
13-year-old Girl Killed When Gun In Mother’s Purse Unintentionally Discharges Dearria Radley, a 13-year-old middle schooler in Nashville, Tennessee, was accidentally shot and killed by a loaded gun that was in her mother’s purse. Her mother was searching for keys in the purse when the .40 caliber semi-automatic pistol unintentionally fired. Dearria died at the …
Two People Injured in Unintentional Shootings In Nashville, Tennessee, a 10-year-old boy playing outside an apartment complex was struck in the knee by a stray bullet. He and his mother were visiting family when the incident occurred. He is expected to be OK, as police look for the shooter. And in Elliott, Mississippi, police ruled …
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 …
Christmas Day Gun Accidents In Nashville, Tennessee, 81-year-old Johnnie Thompson was showing a friend how his Derringer pistol worked. He was fatally struck when he dropped the gun on the floor causing it to unintentionally discharge. Police don’t anticipate any charges being filed. Diego Diaz-Martinez, 31, was a guest at a Christmas family gathering in …
8-year-old Killed; Two Teens Injured in Unintentional Shootings In St. David, Arizona, 8-year-old Bradley John Shockley was accidentally shot in the chest with an air rifle while riding on the back of a friends’s four-wheeler. He was pronounced dead at the hospital a short time later. The vehicle went through an area where people were …
Innocent Woman Injured During Gunfight Two men were injured in a gunfight in Nashville, Tennessee. A 30-year-old woman driving by the area at the time of the incident was also injured when she was struck in the shoulder by stray gunfire. One of the men was critically wounded, and all three were taken to the …
University Freshman Shot and Killed While Walking in Park Jillian Ludwig, an 18-year-old freshman at Belmont University, was shot and killed while walking on a track in a park near campus in Nashville, Tennessee. The shooting was captured on surveillance cameras and an informant and a witness both identified the suspect as 29-year-old Shaquille Taylor. …
Five Unintentional Shootings Leave Six People Injured In Brunswick, Georgia, a 2-year-old found an unsecured gun and shot an 11-month old baby in the lower abdomen. The victim was taken to the hospital for treatment. A handgun was recovered at the scene, and Cedrick Herrington, 31, has been charged with reckless conduct and cruelty to …
Unintentional Shootings Leave Three Children Dead and One Wounded In Mountain Village, Alaska, a young child was killed when another child they were playing with picked up a loaded rifle that was in the home, and unintentionally shot them. The children were playing with nerf guns before the deadly shooting occurred. State troopers were notified; …
Five Unintentional Shootings: Three Involving Teens, Two Involving Security Personnel; One Dead, Four Injured Yoel Lopez, 21, was unintentionally shot and killed by 18-year-old Josue Cruz in Nashville, Tennessee. Lopez was in a parked car with his cousin and Cruz, when an AR-style pistol that Cruz was playing with, went off, striking Lopez. Cruz fled …
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 …
Two Children are Dead and Two are Wounded in Accidental Shootings In Summerville, South Carolina, a 3-year-old died after accidentally shooting himself while handling a loaded gun. He was taken to the hospital when his mother found him unresponsive in a bedroom. The police report said that there were “multiple firearms accessories strewn across the …
13-year-old is Accidentally Shot with Rifle, Two Teenage Brothers Face Charges Outside an apartment complex in Nashville, Tennessee, a 15-year-old boy was handling a bolt action rifle when it accidentally fired, striking a 13-year-old in the shoulder. The shooter’s 16-year-old brother came outside when he heard the gunshot, took the rifle, hid it in their …
Three Gun Accident Injuries in Three Cities In Wolf Creek, Montana, a 74-year-old man was struck and injured when a round fired while his friend was cleaning a gun. The friend, a 54-year-old woman, said she was cleaning the gun and set it on the table and it fired, striking the man. No charges were …
Four-year-old Dies in Gun Accident A four-year-old in Nashville, Tennessee found a loaded gun in their home and accidentally shot themselves in the head. The child died at the hospital. No other information has been reported. Tennessee has no laws regarding the safe storage of guns. Source: Erin McCollough, “Child Killed in Accidental Self-inflicted Shooting,” …
Two People Killed When Others Try to Clear their Guns A 29-year-old Cleveland, Ohio woman killed her husband today while trying to “clear” a weapon, presumably to remove a round in the chamber. The victim, Benjamin Irizarry, age 33, was pronounced dead at the scene. There is an ongoing investigation. And in Nashville, Tennessee, Linda …
Four people accidentally shot themselves with their own guns today. All are expected to survive. The incidents happened at a Pocatello, Idaho mall, in the bathroom of a Nashville, North Carolina Domino’s pizza store, in a car traveling on I-94 near Detroit, Michigan, and in a remote conservation area near Tioga, New York, where a …
In Madison, Tennessee, a man accidentally shot his brother in the face while cleaning his gun. The injured man is in critical condition at the hospital. No charges are expected. There is no report on whether the gun involved in the incident had a loaded chamber indicator, a magazine safety disconnect, or was a Glock, …
Gun accidents occurred all over the country today. In Henrico, Virginia, a 7-year old found his father’s loaded gun and shot himself. His injuries are not considered life-threatening. The boy’s father, Landin Lewis, Sr., was arrested and charged with allowing his son to access the gun. In Somerville, Massachusetts, a police officer shot himself while …
A three-year old Nashville, Tennessee child took his mother’s loaded gun from her purse while she was sleeping and shot himself in the abdomen. The child was airlifted to the hospital for emergency surgery. No charges have been filed. Source: Lucas Wright, “3-year-old Shoots Self with Mother’s Gun, Metro Police Say,” wkrn.com (March 8, 2022).
A 48-year old woman was shot while sleeping on a couch in a Nashville, Tennessee apartment near Music Row. Jonerica Johnson, age 28, had fired her gun in the air after being told to leave a bar across the street. Johnson was taken into custody and charged with reckless endangerment, resisting arrest, disorderly contact, public …
Reports suggest that accidental shootings often happen during crimes. This is not surprising because guns obviously highly correlate with criminal activity and accidents happen frequently when guns are present. An example from today’s news: In Nashville, Tennessee, a teenager was driving a stolen car with a gun on his lap when it fired and struck …
18-year old Fernando Akins of Nashville, Tennessee mishandled a gun in his home and accidentally shot and killed his 17-year old half-brother, Elton Maupins. After the accident, Akins went to get his grandmother and the two of them rendered aid, but Maupins later died at the hospital. The gun used in the incident has not …
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 …
In Granite Quarry, North Carolina, a middle school student shot and killed himself when he “mishandled a gun” that he thought was unloaded. At this time, the family has asked for privacy and we ask for everyone to keep the family in thoughts and prayers,” the local police chief said. “We have no further releasable …
A Nashville, Tennessee woman heard an argument in the apartment below, then a loud pop, followed by pain in her foot. She had been struck by a round that passed through the floor of her apartment. According to the report, “[o]fficers found the apartment below the victim’s empty with the door slightly open, and a bullet …
For the second time this month, a Sumner County, Tennessee child was killed in a gun accident. In this case, which occurred in the small town of Westmoreland, the sheriff’s office announced only a fatal accident involving the death of a six-year old child. The office stressed that the incident was “purely accidental” and declined …
Two Tennessee children were unintentional victims of gun violence today; an 11-year old was killed and a 5-year old was injured in separate incidents. In Memphis, Tennessee, a single gunshot inside an apartment complex struck and killed an 11-year old, according to neighbors. Police are investigating. “It’s overwhelming, overwhelming, you know what I’m saying,” said …
A Hopkinsville, Kentucky 15-year old was critically injured in a gun accident today. He was hospitalized locally with critical injuries, but was expected to be transferred by helicopter to Nashville for further treatment. No details of the circumstances of the accident were released. In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a city riven by recent gun violence, a 12-year …
Two teenage boys and a 24-year old woman were killed today in separate gun accidents. In Houston, Texas, 16-year old Chase Swain was killed while he and his friend were playing with a gun that had been stolen the day before. A 17-year old has been charged with manslaughter. In Nashville, Tennessee, 19-year old Juerno …
Three-year old Jamayla Marlowe of Nashville, Tennessee was shot and killed when she was caught in the crossfire of a shootout that erupted between several individuals. Her sister, Antania Butler, age 2, was injured in the incident. The two girls were in a parked car when the shooting started. Afterwards, police identified several men who …
A 6-year old Nashville, North Carolina boy was shot and injured by a friend of his brother, who was showing off a gun. According to the report, the boy’s 16-year old brother had friends over, one of whom was showing the group his gun when it fired. The 6-year old was airlifted to a hospital, …
In Springfield, Tennessee, a woman was hit by a stray bullet while walking down the street. She was hospitalized with a non-life threatening wound to her arm. Police are investigating, and believe that the shot was fired on an adjacent street. Source: Jason Hall, “Report: Springfield Woman Accidentally Shot While Walking Down Street,” Fox 17 …
Two Tennessee teens were unintentionally shot this weekend. One is dead and the other is recovering at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. In Memphis, 16-year old Jordan Milan was shot and killed by his 17-year old friend, who was playing with a gun. The 17-year old, who was not identified by police, was arrested and charged …