Alaska

Adult Arrested Adult Death Adult Injury Alaska California Child Death (18 and Under) Child Injury (18 and Under) Florida No Charges Filed North Carolina Ongoing Investigation South Carolina Tennessee Texas September 23, 2023September 27, 2023 by Gary Klein

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2023

Eight Unintentional Shootings Leave Two Dead and Six Wounded In Houston, Texas, an 18-year-old was shot and killed by a relative who was trying to take a gun away from him. According to police, the relative was upset the 18-year-old had brought a gun into the apartment, and during the struggle for it, unintentionally shot …

Adult Arrested Alabama Alaska Child Death (18 and Under) Child Injury (18 and Under) Child Under 18 (as Shooter) Juvenile Arrested Ongoing Investigation Tennessee Wisconsin July 30, 2023August 2, 2023 by Gary Klein

SUNDAY, JULY 30, 2023

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; …

Adult Arrested Adult Death Alaska Child Death (18 and Under) Hawaii New York No Charges Filed Ongoing Investigation August 28, 2022March 6, 2023 by Gary Klein

SUNDAY, AUGUST 28, 2022

In Anchor Point, Alaska, Kenneth Defrancesco, 80, appeared to have been killed while getting out of his vehicle. “[A] firearm he was carrying came out of the holster and fired a round, fatally wounding him,” Alaska State Troopers reported in a press release on Sunday. A friend found Defrancesco in his driveway after he had …

Adult Arrested Adult Death Alaska Alcohol and Guns Child Death (18 and Under) Child Under 18 (as Shooter) Louisiana Mississippi Pennsylvania March 12, 2022April 24, 2022 by Gary Klein

SATURDAY, MARCH 12, 2022

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, …

Alaska Child Death (18 and Under) Ongoing Investigation October 1, 2020October 3, 2020 by Gary Klein

A GUN ACCIDENT AT THE END OF THE WORLD

In Shishmaref, Alaska, a 12-year old boy was killed in a gun accident on Saturday August, 22, 2020. The best report of his death available on the internet is an incident report issued by Alaska’s Department of Public Safety. It reads, in full, as follows: On 8/22/2020 at approximately 1921 hours, AST received a report …

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From the Archives

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2019

15-year old Bradley Hulett was shot and killed in Lithia, Florida at the home of his friend, the son of a Tampa police officer. A group of four teenage boys was present at the time of the shooting. According to a subsequent news report about the investigation, some of the boys found the gun in a locked closet with the magazine removed. They did not realize that there was a round in the chamber.

“At 15 years old, Bradley stole the hearts of all who knew him with his sweet disposition, intelligence, and charisma,” according to a Facebook post made after the incident. “His passions in life were his family, friends, and basketball... A tragic accident took him from us too soon.” More than 3,000 people attended Bradley’s funeral service.

“This house used to be vibrant and alive,” Bradley’s father said. "It’s not right now, and I don’t know when it’s going to be again, or if it ever will be, and that’s scary. He was one of kindest, sweetest, most decent people you’d ever meet…”

The boy who fired the shot, 15-year old Christopher Bevan, has been charged with manslaughter and will be prosecuted as an adult. According to a news report, "Bevan said he thought the handgun was not loaded and that he did not intend to shoot Hulett." Nevertheless, the State Attorney concluded there was sufficient evidence to demonstrate “a reckless disregard for human life.”

The officer in whose home the accident occurred was on-duty in Tampa at the time of the incident. According to a local attorney representing the officer, state law says loaded guns kept in locations where a minor could access them must be secured with a trigger lock or kept in a locked container or location "which a reasonable person would believe to be secure.” “He did everything and more than what is required” by the law, the lawyer said of the officer, though he acknowledged that the officer inadvertently left the gun loaded.

A lawyer for the family said, ““If you’re handling a firearm, you have to assume that it’s loaded and that whatever you do with that firearm could take the life of a person very easily. We’re talking about 15-year-old boys here, not 5-year-old boys.”

“It’s a tragedy because it could have been prevented,” Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Captain Preston Hollis said, adding “[a]nytime we have one of these events, unfortunately, it’s a great time to talk about gun safety and firearm safety."

The gun apparently did not have simple safety features such as a magazine safety disconnect so that it would not fire without the magazine present or a loaded chamber indicator that might have made the boys aware that the gun was loaded.

Sources:

Tony Marrero and Jamal Thalj i, “Teenager Shot in Lithia at Police Officer’s Home Identified,” Tampa Bay Times (December 14, 2019).

Tony Marrero, “For Family of Teen Shot at Tampa Cop’s Home, Anger and Unanswered Questions,” Tampa Bay Times (January 29, 2020).

Tampa Bay Times Editorial Board, "A 15-year-old Lithia Teen was Shot by Accident. When Will this Stop?" Tampa Bay Times (March 7, 2020).

Shattered – The Gun Accident Journal

Category: Alaska

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2023

SUNDAY, JULY 30, 2023

SUNDAY, AUGUST 28, 2022

SATURDAY, MARCH 12, 2022

A GUN ACCIDENT AT THE END OF THE WORLD