Child Death (18 and Under) Child Under 18 (as Shooter) Illinois

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 2, 2021

For the second day in a row, a two-year old toddler got hold of and fired a loaded gun.  In this instance, a Joliet, Illinois toddler shot herself.  According to the local police, she “unfortunately succumbed” to her injuries.  No other information is available. Source: “2-Year-Old Child Dies of Self-Inflicted Gunshot Wound in Joliet, Police …

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Adult Arrested Alabama Child Death (18 and Under) Child Injury (18 and Under) Kentucky Ongoing Investigation Tennessee Texas Virginia Washington

SATURDAY, MAY 22, 2021

Seven children under the age of six were killed or injured by gunfire today.  All of them were innocent bystanders to adult gun violence. In Memphis Tennessee, a one-year old child was shot and killed inside a vehicle. “Our kids are scared to death out there,” a local community group leader said.  The other incidents …

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Child Injury (18 and Under) Child Under 18 (as Shooter) Florida Ongoing Investigation

TUESDAY, MAY 11, 2021

Police in Orlando, Florida are investigating an incident in which a four-year old child found a loaded gun and fired it.  These are the available details according to a tweet by the Orlando police: “Upon investigating, officers determined that a 4-year-old child picked up a firearm and accidentally discharged it. The child suffered a non-life-threatening …

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Child Injury (18 and Under) Child Under 18 (as Shooter) Indiana No Charges Filed

TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 2021

In Elkhart, Indiana, a five-year old boy found a loaded gun in his family’s mobile home and shot himself in the chest. Police have confirmed that the shooting was accidental.  The boy went to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, although after surgery, he is expected to survive. “My child. That’s what ran through my mind,” …

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Adult Arrested California Child Injury (18 and Under) Child Under 18 (as Shooter) Children and Guns Illinois No Charges Filed

FRIDAY, APRIL 23, 2021

Two three-year old boys gained access to loaded handguns in separate accidents and shot themselves.  Available reporting suggests that the parents were treated differently after the two incidents. Neither report suggests that police are asking why gun manufacturers are allowed to make guns that a three-year old can fire.  In Bakersfield, California, 29-year old Shawndel …

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Adult Arrested Child Death (18 and Under) Child Injury (18 and Under) Tennessee

MONDAY, APRIL 12, 2021

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 …

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Child Death (18 and Under) Child Under 18 (as Shooter) Children and Guns Ohio Pennsylvania

FRIDAY, MARCH 26, 2021

Two three-year olds were killed in gun accidents today. In Monroeville, Pennsylvania, a three-year old girl was shot by a five-year old sibling who had apparently found a loaded gun in their home. The child was identified as Braya Sanders.  Police are investigating, but have stated that the girl’s parents are cooperating and that the …

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Child Injury (18 and Under) Law Enforcement Action (At Time of Report) Ongoing Investigation Texas

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3, 2021

In a complicated incident today, Houston, Texas police accidentally shot a one-year old child in the head.  They were reportedly attempting to prevent a carjacking at the time of the incident.  The baby is in stable condition at the hospital. Police report that they were chasing an armed suspect, wanted for several aggravated robberies.  At …

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Adult Death Child Injury (18 and Under) Child Under 18 (as Shooter) Ohio Ongoing Investigation Texas

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2021

An 88-year old woman was killed and a three-year old child was seriously injured in separate gun accidents today. In Warren, Ohio,  88-year old Ruth Lewis was planning a funeral with family members when someone shot through a window and killed her.  “This was a senseless death caused by a random bullet. Obviously, she wasn’t …

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Adult Arrested Child Injury (18 and Under) Child Under 18 (as Shooter) Tennessee

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2021

In Clarksville, Tennessee, a two-year old child was killed in a home where there were three children under the age of four. One of the toddlers found an unsecured gun and shot the two-year old.  He died at the hospital. Julian Chester, the child’s mother’s boyfriend, was arrested on unrelated charges. Source: “Tenn. Toddler Dies …

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Child Injury (18 and Under) Child Under 18 (as Shooter) Louisiana Ongoing Investigation

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2021

In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a three-year old boy found a loaded gun in his home and shot himself.   Police were alerted to the incident by a call from the hospital.  Although the child is expected to survive, there is an ongoing investigation. Source: “Toddler Expected to Survive after Accidental Shooting, Police Say,” Fox 8 Live …

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Adult Arrested Child Death (18 and Under) Child Under 18 (as Shooter) Michigan Pennsylvania

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2021

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 …

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Child Injury (18 and Under) Child Under 18 (as Shooter) Ohio Ongoing Investigation

FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2021

Once again, a Columbus, Ohio child was hurt in a gun accident.  This time a three-year-old girl was hurt when her four-year old brother found a loaded unsecured gun in their home and pulled the trigger.  The girl was struck and was hospitalized in stable condition. Source: “Police: 3-year-old Girl Accidentally Shot by 4-year-old Brother …

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Child Injury (18 and Under) Child Under 18 (as Shooter) Florida Kansas Ohio Ongoing Investigation

SATURDAY, JANUARY 9, 2021

Two three-year old children and a five-year old were injured in gun accidents today. Reported facts about each incident are minimal. A five-year old Columbus, Ohio boy was playing with his mother’s loaded handgun when it fired.  He is expected to survive.  A Wichita, Kansas teenager was handling a handgun when it fired accidentally and …

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Adult Injury Child Under 18 (as Shooter) Indiana Ongoing Investigation

FRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 2021

In Fort Wayne, Indiana, a toddler found a gun and used it to shoot his mother. Her injuries are not considered life threatening, but local police are investigating “possible child neglect.”  No other information is available. The incident is one of many recent incidents in Indiana in which young children have been involved in serious …

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Child Injury (18 and Under) Child Under 18 (as Shooter) Kentucky Maine Ongoing Investigation

SATURDAY, JANUARY 2, 2021

A pair of two-year old children were shot and critically injured today, one in Kentucky and the other in Maine. Police are investigating both incidents. In Louisville Kentucky, a two-year old girl found a gun and shot herself. She is expected to survive. Police are investigating how she got the gun. In Waterville, Maine, a …

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Child Death (18 and Under) Child Injury (18 and Under) Ongoing Investigation Texas

FRIDAY, JANUARY 1, 2021

Across the country, people young and old were injured or killed by celebratory gunfire on New Year’s morning.  The incidents are too numerous to fully describe.  Returning to Texas, the site of one of last year’s worst celebratory gunfire tragedies, at least four people, including a sleeping eight-year old Houston boy, were struck by celebratory …

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Adult Arrested Child Injury (18 and Under) Child Under 18 (as Shooter) Indiana

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2020

In Richmond, Indiana, a four-year old child was flown to a Dayton, Ohio hospital after suffering an accidental gunshot wound.  Police arrested 23-year-old Khylier Childress-Shelby and preliminarily charged him with possession of a handgun without a license and neglect of a dependent.  Although the charges are consistent with an incident in which the child found …

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Child Death (18 and Under) Child Under 18 (as Shooter) Idaho Indiana Michigan Ongoing Investigation

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2020

Children in Michigan, Indiana and Idaho died in gun accidents today.  The Michigan accident occurred in Canton Township.  Eight-year old Jack Bennett, an only child, died when a bullet discharged as his father was cleaning a gun.  According to his mother, Tammy Snyder, “[i]t was a freak accident. It was supposed to be an unloaded …

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Child Death (18 and Under) Child Under 18 (as Shooter) Ongoing Investigation South Carolina

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2020

A four-year old North Charleston, South Carolina boy died in a gun accident today.  He apparently found a loaded gun and accidentally shot himself, though few details are available.  No arrests have been made, but the police continue to investigate.   According to the report, “South Carolina doesn’t punish firearm owners for leaving their weapons out, …

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Child Death (18 and Under) Child Injury (18 and Under) Child Under 18 (as Shooter) Children and Guns Juvenile Arrested Maryland Mississippi New York No Charges Filed Ongoing Investigation

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2020

At least three children were shot in separate gun accidents today.  Two were wounded.  One was killed.  In Senatobia, Mississippi, a two-year old girl found a loaded gun and shot herself.  She is being treated at a local hospital and is in stable condition.  The incident is being reported as an “accidental discharge.”  It is …

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Child Death (18 and Under) Child Injury (18 and Under) Child Under 18 (as Shooter) Michigan Mississippi Ongoing Investigation

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2020

Three children under ten-years old were shot by accident in separate incidents today.  Two of the incidents occurred in connection with drive-by shootings in Mississippi.  In the first, in Roxie Mississippi, six-year old Robert London was killed when someone fired into his home for unknown reasons.  He was hit in the head.  “They went by …

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Adult Arrested Adult Death Child Death (18 and Under) Child Under 18 (as Shooter) Ohio Ongoing Investigation Tennessee

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2020

Two children under the age of five were involved in fatal gun accidents today.  Details are scarce. In Adams Township, Ohio, a four year-old died at the hospital after being shot in the chest.  The local Sheriff’s office confirmed that the shooting was an accident.  It is not clear who fired the gun and no …

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Adult Arrested Alabama Child Death (18 and Under) Child Injury (18 and Under) Child Under 18 (as Shooter) Illinois No Charges Filed Ongoing Investigation Uncategorized Wisconsin

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2020

Three children under age 10 shot themselves today. In Chicago, Illinois, three boys left home alone while their father was picking up their mother from the hospital found a loaded gun.  One of the boys, a five-year old, accidentally shot his nine-year old brother in the head.  The boy, Ashton Lipscomb, died at the hospital.  …

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Adult Injury California Child Under 18 (as Shooter) Ongoing Investigation

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2020

A two-year old in Bakersfield, California accidentally shot a relative with a loaded gun he found inside his apartment. The unidentified woman is in critical condition at the hospital.  “At this point, we are going through all the various interviews and still doing some follow-up investigations as far as where the gun was located, how …

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Adult Arrested Child Death (18 and Under) Child Under 18 (as Shooter) Juvenile Arrested North Carolina

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2020

Details are scarce about an incident in which 5-year old Amani Barringer was shot in the neck by her 14-year old brother with an unsecured gun.  Amani was home, in Charlotte, North Carolina, with two teenagers age 14 and 15, when she was killed.  The 14-year old was arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter.  An …

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Child Injury (18 and Under) Child Under 18 (as Shooter) Illinois Ongoing Investigation

TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2020

A three-year old in Springfield, Illinois apparently found a loaded unsecured firearm and shot himself.  The child’s injuries are not believed to be life threatening. This gun accident occurred in the home of a relative who is not the child’s legal guardian. According to the report, the relative was the legally licensed owner of the …

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Child Death (18 and Under) Ongoing Investigation Pennsylvania

MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2020

In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1-year old Zykier Young was killed inside his home by a bullet fired outside.  According to investigators, the shot traveled through a window and then two walls before hitting Zykier.  A Pittsburgh police press release stated, “[w]ith a police sergeant driving, two police officers held the baby in the backseat and worked …

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Child Injury (18 and Under) Child Under 18 (as Shooter) Children and Guns New Mexico Ongoing Investigation

SATURDAY, AUGUST 22, 2020

In San Angelo, Texas, another 2-year old was shot by a young sibling who had found a gun.  It is unclear whether the injuries are life threatening.  Police and the local child services agency are investigating. No arrests have been made. Source: “San Angelo Police Respond to an Accidental Shooting Incident Involving a 2-year Old …

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Child Injury (18 and Under) Louisiana Ongoing Investigation

MONDAY, AUGUST 17, 2020

Police in Shreveport, Louisiana are investigating an incident in which a five-year old child was accidentally shot in the leg.  According to a report, the gun went off when the child jumped on a bed where the gun was placed.  The child suffered non-life threatening injuries. Source: “Shreveport Police Investigate 2 Shootings Monday Night,” KTBS3 …

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Adult Arrested Child Death (18 and Under) Child Under 18 (as Shooter) North Carolina

SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2020

In Charlotte, North Carolina, 2-year old Amor Cureton shot and killed himself with a loaded handgun in a motel.  His father Antonio Cureton was arrested and charged with “involuntary manslaughter, two counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of a stolen firearm and failure to secure a firearm to protect a …

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Adult Arrested California Child Death (18 and Under) Child Under 18 (as Shooter) Michigan Ongoing Investigation

TUESDAY, AUGUST 4, 2020

Two children found guns in their homes and accidentally shot and killed themselves today.  In Saginaw, Michigan, a five-year old boy found a gun.  According to police, he died of “self-inflicted gunshot wounds.”  They have called the incident a “tragic accident.”  While they investigate to determine how the boy got ahold of the gun, “their …

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Adult Arrested Adult Death Child Death (18 and Under) Child Under 18 (as Shooter) Georgia Hawaii Ongoing Investigation Tennessee

TUESDAY, JULY 28, 2020

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 …

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Adult Arrested Child Death (18 and Under) Child Under 18 (as Shooter) South Carolina

SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2020

A two-year old boy died in a gun accident Saturday night in Graniteville, South Carolina.  He “accessed a handgun and shot himself” according to a news report.  Deputies arriving at the scene “observed a complainant sitting on the ground in the roadway holding her 2-year-old son, Jamarious Rogers, in her arms.”  He later died at …

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Adult Arrested Child Death (18 and Under) Child Under 18 (as Shooter) Children and Guns Georgia

TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2020

In a gun accident in Rochelle, Georgia, a four-year old girl was shot and killed.  The Georgia Bureau of Investigation found that “the child was shot while she and her 3-year-old brother were playing with a gun.”  The GBI found that the gun was unsecured.  The girl’s father, Johnny Lee Kellom, was arrested after the …

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Children and Guns

CHILDREN AND GUNS

Criminalizing the Negligence of Caregivers May Let Manufacturers Off the Hook It is quite clear from any rational child safety perspective that manufacturers should be discouraged or prevented from designing guns that children can easily fire.  Better designs can be achieved with effective external manual safeties, magazine safety disconnects, heavier trigger pulls or trigger designs …

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Child Injury (18 and Under) Child Under 18 (as Shooter) Juvenile Arrested Michigan North Carolina

MONDAY, JULY 6, 2020

In separate incidents, two young children found unsecured handguns today and accidentally shot and injured a sibling.  In Beulaville, North Carolina, a 6-year old girl found a handgun in her home and shot her 12-year old sister in the back.  The 12-year old is at the hospital in critical condition.  An 18-year old was charged …

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Child Death (18 and Under) Child Under 18 (as Shooter) No Charges Filed Tennessee

THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2020

In Hendersonville, Tennessee John Robert Moore, a two-year old boy, found an unattended loaded handgun in his father’s car and shot himself.  His father was a volunteer firefighter and the two were visiting the Shackle Island fire station at the time of the accident. “Everybody loved that little boy,” said Martin Bowers, fire chief for …

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Child Death (18 and Under) Child Under 18 (as Shooter) Juvenile Arrested Missouri Ohio Ongoing Investigation West Virginia

FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 2020

Three young children were accidentally shot and killed today, one at his own hand and the other two by relatives.  In Springboro, Ohio, a five-year old boy shot and killed himself with his grandmother’s gun.  The boy’s father told police that he woke to the sound of a gunshot. In Jackson County, West Virginia, a …

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Child Death (18 and Under) Child Under 18 (as Shooter) Florida Ongoing Investigation

MONDAY, JUNE 15, 2020

Another two-year old Jacksonville, Florida toddler died after an apparent gun accident today.  Although some of the circumstances of the accident are unclear, the child and/or a young sibling apparently found a loaded gun in their home.  One of them fired it and the toddler is dead. Police confirmed that there were also adults present …

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Alabama Child Injury (18 and Under) Child Under 18 (as Shooter) No Charges Filed North Dakota

SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2020

In Morris, Alabama, a five-year old boy found a gun in his home and shot himself in the face.  He later died of his wound. “It’s just a tragic accident it appears,” the Morris police chief said. The police will present findings to the District Attorney’s office on Monday. In Portland, North Dakota, a newspaper …

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Adult Arrested Child Death (18 and Under) Child Under 18 (as Shooter) Georgia Uncategorized

SATURDAY, MAY 16, 2020

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, …

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Adult Arrested Arizona Child Death (18 and Under) Child Under 18 (as Shooter) Ongoing Investigation Texas

TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2020

Two toddlers died in gun accidents today.  One found a gun and shot himself, the other was shot by a young sibling.  Three-year old Bryson Skinner died after finding in a handgun in his home and shooting himself by accident.  A related 22-year adult and his girlfriend were arrested and charged with felony child abuse. …

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Adult Arrested Child Death (18 and Under) Child Under 18 (as Shooter) Colorado Ongoing Investigation Texas

TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2020

Two more young children died in gun accidents in their homes today. In Westminster, Colorado, a three-year old girl, Ruby Jackson, was shot and killed while playing with her seven-year old brother.  She was shot in the chest as the children played ‘swords.’   “Ruby was using a broomstick, but at some point her brother picked …

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