Reports of Unintended Gun Violence Collected from Media Reports Across the United States
Innocent Bystander Shot in Back A 24-year-old man was caught in the crossfire of a shootout between two teenagers outside his home in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. He was struck in the back by a stray bullet, but is expected to survive. Police discovered one suspect, 18-year-old Jamiere Williams on the porch of a nearby home with …
Toddler and Teen Killed in Unintentional Shootings In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 3-year-old Kayden Barnes died after shooting herself in the eye with a gun that her father had left out after cleaning it. Both of her parents were at home when the shooting occurred. Police recovered the gun and a male was questioned and released. No …
Infant Killed, and 4-year-old Injured in Unintentional Shootings A 1-year-old girl died at the hospital after being accidentally shot in a residence in Knox City, Texas. It is unclear how the infant was shot, and at least one other child has been taken into the custody of child protective services. The Texas Rangers are assisting …
Four People Hurt in Gun Accidents, Including One Child A 7-year-old girl was outside in Camden, New Jersey, when she was hit by a stray bullet. She was taken to the hospital and is in stable condition. No other information has been released, but police say the girl was not the intended victim. In Houston, …
Two-year-old Girl Unintentionally Shot and Killed with Stolen Gun A 2-year-old girl was accidentally shot in the head and killed by her 14-year-old cousin in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The toddler was at home with four adult relatives and three other children, when her cousin, who has developmental disabilities, found an unsecured loaded gun. The DA’s office …
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 …
Girl is Wounded by Stray Gunfire During Shootout An 11-year-old girl in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is recovering in stable condition after being struck in the hip by stray gunfire while out shopping with her family. Police say nearly 30 shots were fired and are searching for at least two people involved in a shootout that spanned …
Two Young Children Find Loaded Guns: One Kills Themself, The Other Accidentally Shoots an Adult An investigation is ongoing after a 3-year-old in Trenton, New Jersey found a gun and shot and killed themself. Trenton’s Mayor said, “[t]his horrific act calls to mind the senselessness of gun deaths and innocent children in harm’s way. The …
Five Dead and Seven Injured in Unintended Shootings In Indianapolis, Indiana, 5-year-old Hakiem Scott apparently shot himself with an unsecured 9mm gun he found in his home. He was taken to the hospital in critical condition, but died shortly after. His father, 25-year-old Jahbar Scott, was arrested on an allegation of neglect of a dependent …
Father Shoots Son in Gun Handling Accident; Three Other Children Injured are Innocent Bystanders In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, while handling a gun in the living room, 29-year-old Nicholas Pagan unintentionally shot his five-year-old son in the pelvis. The boy is in the hospital in stable condition. The gun used has not been recovered and Pagan, who …
Stray Bullets Injure Two People A 40-year-old woman in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is in critical condition after being hit in the face by a stray bullet. She was parking her car and appears to be the innocent victim of a nearby road rage incident. A 24-year-old man, a participant in that incident, was also shot and …
Two Injured in Gun Accidents Today A Southaven, Mississippi child accidentally shot themself and was sent to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. No further details were reported. In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, an armed man unintentionally shot himself in the leg when police, responding to reports of a person with a gun, tried to disarm him. …
Eight-year-old Dies in Accidental Shooting; Three Other Children are Also Involved in Gun Accidents An eight-year-old boy died of a gunshot wound today after being airlifted to a hospital in Birmingham, Alabama. The Franklin County boy and his four-year-old brother had found a loaded gun at home. The two boys had the gun in a …
At least six people were killed or injured in separate gun accidents today, three of them children, the others young adults. In Pittsburg, California, a 15-year-old was shot and killed by another 15-year-old, apparently unintentionally. The shooter was arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter. However, minimal details have been released. In Grand Rapids, Michigan, an …
A six-year-old and a twelve-year-old were shot and killed today with guns that they found in their homes. The six-year-old, Zi Zi Olmstead, was killed at his home in Calhoun, North Carolina, when he found a Taurus 9mm pistol in his mother’s bedroom while she was outside with the dog. Zi Zi’s mother heard a …
When nearly 50 shots were fired in a Philadelphia neighborhood, apparently the only person struck was an eight-year old child who was playing in the yard at her grandmother’s nearby home. “There is a little hole in her head so they kind of put it back together,” said her grandmother. The girl remains at the …
A Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 13-year old was shot and injured when a gun discharged while it was in his waistband or pants pocket. No word on how he got the gun. A 31-year old San Antonio, Texas man shot himself in the buttocks when a round he fired in the air apparently returned nearly to earth. …
Aston Simmons, a 28-year old Apollo Beach man, was arrested after a 5-year old found a loaded gun in a bedroom and shot himself. A substantial amount of marijuana was also found at the scene. The child is in critical condition at the hospital. Simmons has been charged with unlawful storage of a firearm among …
A Philadephia, Pennsylvania FBI agent suffered minor injuries when his gun discharged on the loading dock of the local federal building. In the statement, the FBI said, “The FBI takes all shooting incidents involving our agents or tasks force members seriously. In accordance with Bureau police, the shooting incident is under investigation by an FBI …
In North Charleston, South Carolina today, Micah Simmons, a 13-year old, was fatally shot when another child tried to grab a loaded gun from him. Micah died at the hospital. Police say that no charges are likely to be filed and there is no reporting on why Micah had the gun in the first instance. …
Many people were injured in gun accidents today, with mostly minimal press coverage. Two of the accidents occurred in the Philadelphia area. On the Drexel campus in West Philadelphia, a man accidentally shot himself in the leg inside a Shake Shack restaurant. Given the number of recent mass shootings, it is not surprising that the …
There were at least four more serious gun accidents today, for a total of nine in two days. Several of the accidents occurred because the shooter wasn’t aware that the gun was loaded, making it unlikely that the weapons involved had a proper loaded chamber indicator, a common sense safety device. In North Pole, Alaska, …
A 22-year old Philadelphia, Pennsylvania woman was accidentally shot in the face when a man pulled a gun to attempt to shoot a dog that had attacked a five-year old child. The man fired a round that ricocheted and struck the woman rather than the dog. The child suffered bite wounds to the face and …
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a two-year old boy found a gun next to a bed in his home and shot himself in the stomach. The bullet exited through the boy’s back. The boy’s parents drove him to hospital, where he is listed in stable condition. “Yet another one of our precious children has suffered a critical …
Authorities in Clinton Township, Michigan are expected to charge a man whose gun went off during a physical altercation with his younger brother. The two men were wrestling on the floor when the gun fired and the younger man was killed. The precise circumstances causing the gun to go off are unclear. Although the police …
Kyleek Williams of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, age 17, was playing with semi-automatic guns with a friend when one of the guns went off. Kyleek was struck in the stomach and later died at the hospital. Police have announced that there is a suspect in custody, though the nature of the charge is unclear. Kyleek is …
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Jeffrey Carter, age 65, was struck in the head and killed by a stray bullet while driving near a local high school. He crashed his SUV off the road at the time of the shooting. A 16-year old boy was also struck in the head by gunfire and taken to the hospital …
There were at least four different innocent bystander shootings today. The unintended consequences of intentional shootings continue to grow in proportion to the expansion of gun violence in the United States. In Cincinnati, Ohio, an 11-year old boy was struck in his bedroom while playing video games. The rounds that passed into his room were …
The epidemic of gun violence affecting the nation’s children continued unabated today. In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a 6-year old found a loaded gun in his home and shot himself in the hand. He is in stable condition at the hospital. Also today, at least eleven teenagers were shot and injured in separate episodes of gun violence. …
For the second time in less than a week, a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ten-year old has died in a gun accident. In the latest incident, a 10-year old girl was found to have suffered a wound to the head in West Philadelphia. She died at the hospital. “Less than one week after meeting with family in …
A three-year old and a ten-year old died in gun accidents on opposite sides of the country today when they found loaded guns in their homes. In Fresno, California, 3-year old Bryson Vang found his father’s loaded gun and shot and killed himself. His parents and siblings were home at the time. The gun was …
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 young children were killed in preventable accidental shootings, one in Philadelphia, the other in Detroit. The incidents are strikingly similar. In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, balloons were released at a vigil for nine-year old gun accident victim Nyssa Davis. Davis was shot and killed by a 5-year old relative in her home. The boy had found …
In Seward, Nebraska, a nine-year old boy died after shooting himself accidentally while pheasant hunting. According to the local sheriff’s office, the boy, Gunnar Holte, was hunting with his father. Gunnar “had fired his shotgun at a bird, then went to reload when his dad heard another shot go off, turned around and saw his …
Diana Davis of Chester, Pennsylvania was driving home from work when she was killed by a stray bullet fired along her route. Video shows her car then slowly crashing into a utility pole. No arrests have yet been made. “Turn yourself in man. Turn your damn dumb self in. It doesn’t make no sense. That’s …
In a tragic accident in Trenton, New Jersey, a long-time state employee was working on her front porch when she was shot and killed by a stray bullet. Vernetta McCray, 39, was an employee of New Jersey’s department of children and families. Phil Murphy, New Jersey’s governor praised McCray for her dedication and service. “This …
An armed security guard accidentally shot another guard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania today. According to the report, he was getting into a car when his gun discharged. The guard who was wounded was taken to a hospital in stable condition. Authorities said the shooting was accidental and that no charges were expected to be filed. Source: …
A four-year old girl, Kastari Nunez, was accidentally shot and killed in Northeast Philadelphia today. According to the report, a “.357 revolver with five live rounds and one spent cartridge casing was found on a living room sofa.” Police ultimately charged three adults who were present in the home at the time of the accident. …
In Chester, Pennsylvania, 7-year old Sinsir Parker was found dead after being hit by a “stray bullet” during an apparent drive-by shooting. He had been shot in the face and was discovered lying in the middle of the street. Police are investigating. The report noted that the incident was the 14th homicide in Chester in …
Four young children accidentally shot themselves today with found guns in separate incidents. Two are dead. Two are hospitalized. In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania a four-year old found a Glock pistol in a closet and shot himself in the head in his bedroom. His three-year old brother was in the room at the time. Police say the …
In Philadelphia, PA, a 3-year old boy shot himself in the hand after he grabbed a gun when his father opened a gun safe. He was recovering at the hospital. Source: Dan Stamm, “Child Shoots Self After Grabbing Gun from Father, Police Say,” 10 Philadelphia (December 19, 2019).
Murder charges were dropped today in a case involving 18 year-old Fayaadh Gillard, a Philadelphia high school student who fatally shot his twin brother, Suhail, in a tragic accident. Their father, Alleem Gillard, who is paralyzed from the waste down due to his own exposure to gun violence, was teaching the twins, from his wheelchair, …
The Associated Press reported that it had gathered reports of 1,422 unintentional gun discharges by police since 2012 at 258 different law enforcement agencies. It called its information gathering a “snapshot” of the problem because there are no reporting requirements for such incidents. The reports document all incidents in which a gun went off when …