Reports of Unintended Gun Violence Collected from Media Reports Across the United States
Teenager is Killed When Another Teen Plays with Gun A 17-year-old male was unintentionally shot and killed by a 13-year-old in a home in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The victim was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. In the 911 call, it was reported that the victim’s injuries were self-inflicted, but officials …
Toddler and Teenager Killed in Gun Accidents A two-year-old boy in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Devonte Chambers, fatally shot himself in the chest with his father’s unsecured gun. His 29-year-old father, also named Devonte Chambers, told police that he took his son to the bedroom for a nap, and the toddler found the gun that was …
Group of Friends Playing with Gun; 16-year-old is Killed In an Indianapolis, Indiana home, 16-year-old Nathaniel Labissiere was unintentionally shot and killed by his friend, 18-year-old Jakari Bibbs. The two teens and another friend were playing around with a .22 caliber Glock 44 while another person took photos. During the investigation, Bibbs told detectives he …
13-year-old Boy Paralyzed After Unintentional Shooting During Sleepover In Port Orange, Florida, 13-year-old Nathaniel Green was airlifted to the hospital in critical condition after he was accidentally shot while sleeping over at a friend’s house. The bullet went through his throat and spinal cord, and he remains in an induced coma paralyzed from the waist …
Child Unintentionally Shot Through Face by Friend Although their injuries are not considered life-threatening, a Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina juvenile was unintentionally shot in the face by a friend. “[The bullet] entered one side of their face and proceeded to exit from the opposite side of their face. The bullet eventually landed in the victim’s …
Four People Wounded in Unintentional Shootings A 6-year-old boy was playing with an unsecured gun he found in a home in Detroit, Michigan, and accidentally shot himself in the thumb. He was taken to the hospital for treatment. His grandmother was at home during the incident, but it is unclear who owns the gun. Charges may …
14-year-old Shot and Killed After Teens Find Unsecured Gun A 14-year-old was shot and killed after he and two other teens found an unsecured gun in a home in Virginia Beach, Virginia. They were playing around with the firearm when it unintentionally fired. The victim died at the scene. A 16-year-old boy has been charged …
4-year-old Boy Killed in Accidental Shooting Inside an apartment in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 4-year-old Jamero Edwards was accidentally shot and killed. The mayor said a woman told him that Jamero was shot after her 6-year-old got a hold of the gun in her apartment. Police recovered two guns and are investigating. No one has been charged …
Two Teens Injured in Unintentional Shootings A 16-year-old boy in a home in St. Louis, Missouri, was injured after unintentionally shooting himself in the leg while mishandling a gun. He is in stable condition at the hospital as police continue to investigate. And a 14-year-old girl in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, was accidentally shot in the …
Eighth Grader Killed by Best Friend in Hunting Accident Cameron Connor, 13, was accidentally shot and killed by his best friend while they were hunting on a property in Santee, South Carolina. Both boys were in the eighth grade at a local private school. They played together on the school’s football and baseball teams. According …
Teen is Killed in Gun Accident While Wearing Bulletproof Vest In an incident in the gray area between intentional and unintentional, a Weslaco, Texas 16-year-old agreed to wear a bulletproof vest before he was shot and killed by 18-year-old Arturo Ramos III. The victim was dead upon arrival at the hospital. Witnesses said they had …
High School Junior is Unintentionally Shot and Killed In Albuquerque, New Mexico, Elijah Pohl-Morfin, 16, was unintentionally shot and killed by 16-year-old Adrian Martinez. After attending a basketball game, both boys were hanging out with other teenagers, smoking weed and playing with a gun. According to one witness, Martinez was adjusting the blue laser sight …
One Teen is Dead, One Injured in Accidental Shootings Matthew Elijah Espinoza, an 18-year-old in Dallas, Texas, was accidentally shot and killed. Vincent Michael Corral, also 18, was holding the gun when he shot Espinoza. He has been charged with criminally negligent homicide. And a 16-year-old boy in Akron, Ohio, was hospitalized in critical condition …
13-year-old Unintentionally Shot and Killed by 16-year-old Friend A 13-year-old girl was unintentionally shot and killed by her 16-year-old friend in Perry, Georgia. The children were playing with a gun that the police believe the boy brought with him to the house. The girl’s mother was at home at the time of the shooting. Few …
Two People Killed in Unintentional Shootings Hussein Mohamed, 14, unintentionally shot and killed 14-year-old Madden Gouveia in Bristol Vermont. The boys were with at least two other people in a car, including an 18-year-old man, as Gouveia passed around a 9mm Smith and Wesson handgun he had with him. The others in the car were …
Hunting Accidents Today: One Man Dies, and Heroic Boy is Injured In Seaboard, North Carolina, 34-year-old Chase Colas was shot and killed in a hunting accident. Few details are reported about the incident as the wildlife department continues to investigate. A friend set up a GoFundMe page and described Colas as “[g]enuinely one of the …
Two Teens and A Woman Injured in Accidental Shootings A 14-year-old boy was hospitalized after accidentally shooting himself in the face in Canton, Michigan. It appears he was home alone when the shooting took place, and a neighbor helped him by calling the police. The incident is under investigation. The police chief took the opportunity …
Teens Shot While Playing with Guns, and Two Other Gun Accidents Today A group of teenagers were playing with guns when two of them were accidentally shot in Center Point, Alabama. A 16-year-old and a 19-year-old were taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. As the mayor described the incident, “[a] group of teenagers …
Thirteen-year-old Accidentally Shot and Killed Thirteen-year-old Akeem Pugh, a middle school student in Sumter, South Carolina, was unintentionally shot and killed today. The incident is still under investigation, but apparently Akeem and two friends were handling a gun when it went off, fatally striking the teen. Police charged the friends — a 12-year-old with involuntary …
Four Accidental Shootings: 14-year-old Boy and 83-year-old Woman Dead, 2 Others Injured In Fort Ann, New York, a 17-year-old didn’t know that the shotgun he had pointed in the direction of 14-year-old Rycky Stark Jr. was loaded. It unintentionally fired, hitting Rycky in the abdomen killing him. Three boys and one girl were playing with …
10-year-old Boy Attending Summer Camp, and Two Other People Hurt in Unintentional Shootings In Knoxville, Tennessee, a 10-year-old boy was shot and critically injured while attending summer camp in the gym of a local YWCA. A gun inside a 14-year-old’s backpack accidentally discharged striking the boy. The 14-year-old left the scene but was detained by …
Accidental Shootings Leave One Dead, Five Wounded In Columbia, South Carolina, a 7-year-old girl died from what is reported as an accidental shooting. She died at the hospital from a gunshot wound to her upper body. The incident is under investigation. One child accidentally shot another in Austin, Texas. The victim was transported to a …
Three Children Dead in Unintended Shootings In Salinas, California, Natalie Romero Puente, an 11-year-old fifth-grade student, accidentally shot and killed herself with her 18-year-old brother’s Glock pistol. The gun had been illegally modified to function fully automatically. A classmate’s parent said, “”My daughter’s taking it pretty hard. They were all classmates, teammates on volleyball and …
Six-year-old Killed in Gun Cleaning Accident; Teen Injured While Playing Around with Gun In Wichita Falls, Texas, a 6-year-old boy died after being accidentally shot in the chest by his father. The child’s father was apparently dismantling the gun to clean it when it discharged, hitting the boy. Police interviewed several people in the home …
Deadly Accident While Demonstrating How to Take Apart a Semi-Automatic Handgun and Two Other Deadly Unintentional Shootings Kelsey McDuffie, a 17-year-old from Bulloch County, Georgia died after sustaining an accidental gunshot wound to the back of her head. McDuffie’s 18-year-old friend, Adnan Keelin, was showing her how to disassemble and reassemble a 9mm semi-automatic handgun …
Five Unintentional Shootings Result in Five Injuries At least five people were injured in gun accidents in the United States today. A 13-year-old Cincinnati, Ohio boy was critically injured when a friend shot him in the back. The police incident report indicates that the shooting was accidental, but police continue to investigate and are still …
Boy Accidentally Shot by Friend Who Didn’t Know Gun Was Loaded In Menifee, California, a 17-year-old boy was shot by his friend, Jesse Duncan, 19, during horseplay with a gun. “A preliminary investigation revealed [that four boys] were horseplaying with the firearm,” a police Captain said. “While horseplaying, and believing the firearm was not loaded, …
Court Officer and Toddler Injured in Separate Gun Accidents An Elkhart County, Indiana court security officer was hospitalized after his gun accidentally discharged in a local courthouse. The officer, 23-year-old Joshua Troup, was treated at the hospital after his firearm discharged while he was putting it into his holster, striking his foot. His injuries were …
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 17-year-old San Antonio, Texas teen is in critical condition after being shot in the chest by a 16-year-old friend while the two were allegedly “playing with a gun.” According to the report, the 16-year-old pointed the gun at the 17-year-old and said “I’m gonna kill you,” before pulling the trigger. He then called 911 …
Riley Shearer, an Erie, Pennsylvania high school freshman, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault after unintentionally shooting and killing his 14-year-old girlfriend while waving around a shotgun. The victim, an eighth grader, was killed by a shotgun blast to the head in a bedroom of a local home. Shearer, age 16, told police that …
17-year old Shantasia O’Bryan was shot and killed today by her boyfriend’s 15-year old brother, who was playing with gun in the backseat of a car in which Shantasia was riding. The boy was arrested and charged with manslaughter. “I don’t know what he was doing with a gun. It doesn’t make any sense, why …
18-year old Tavbey Kucukkarca died of his wounds after being shot by a 15-year old friend in a rural area of Texas. The two were firing guns together when the accident occurred. Tavbey died at the scene despite dispatch of EMS helicopters. Source: Jana Kilcrease, “One Central Texas Teen Dead in ‘Accidental’ Shooting,” Killeen Daily …
Demetrius Clarke of Oxon Hill, Maryland, age 18, was arrested and charged with manslaughter after a gun he was handling discharged and shot and killed his 16-year old friend. The 16-year old was dropped off at a local fire station and later died at the hospital. Source: “PGPD Charges Male With Manslaughter in Oxon Hill,” …
Four children, aged 16 and under, were unintentionally shot and killed today. In Escambia County, Florida, one-year old Kacey Bass was shot and killed and her two-year old sister was injured by an eight-year old who was playing with his father’s gun. According to the report, the boy took the gun from his father’s closet …
Eric Joseph Adams of D’Iberville Mississippi called police after his rifle discharged “unexpectedly” while he was putting it away. The round tore through the door of a neighboring apartment and struck and killed Stayvia Leone Hood, age 23. Adams was arrested and charged with manslaughter. “It’s just horrible, just horrible,” the local police chief said. …
In Mount Croghan, South Carolina, a 15-year old accidentally shot and killed her 15-year old boyfriend while the two children were playing with a gun. The girl has been arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter. “Looked like they were playing with a gun, handgun, and the gun went off, the safety somehow went off …
For the second time this week, a Phoenix, Arizona teenager accidentally shot a teenage friend today. In the latest incident, Sergio Lopez Ruiz accidentally shot his friend Brian Lujan, also 18, while the two were handling Lopez Ruiz’s gun. Lujan died at the hospital and Lopez Ruiz has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter. On …
Kismet Sengdan of Akron, Ohio, a ten-year old died today after another child picked up an unsecured gun and accidentally discharged it. Kismet was visiting at the time. Police are investigating to determine who owned the gun. The Akron Public schools issued the following statement after the incident: “It is with a heavy heart that …
Blake Miller, age 18, was charged today in connection with a March 12 unintended gun violence incident that allegedly occurred while Miller was showing his family’s .22 caliber rifle to his friends. The boys had had a few beers at the time of the incident. According to the report, Miller, of Omaha, Nebraska, pointed the …
An 18-year old Peoria, Arizona man was shot and killed by a friend who was cleaning his gun inside a local apartment. The Peoria police said that the man who fired the fatal shot was reassembling his gun after cleaning it and that it still had a round in the chamber. No other information about …
In Little Rock, Arkansas, a three-year old found a loaded gun and shot himself in the eye. The boy is in critical condition at the hospital. There was no discussion in the article about how the boy obtained an unsecured loaded gun or about why manufacturers are allowed to design guns that a three-year old …
In West Jordan, Utah, a 13-year old boy was accidentally killed by his 15-year old friend. According to police, the two had snuck out in the middle of the night with a handgun and were “messing around with it” in a church parking lot. “At some point, the 15-year-old accidentally pulled the trigger, shooting and …
Elijah Farral, a 20-year old Columbus, Georgia man and two friends were playing with a loaded handgun when he accidentally pulled the trigger according to police testimony. He accidentally shot and killed Sara Holtrop, age 18, who was sleeping nearby on a couch. Farral has been charged with involuntary manslaughter. “Sara was an extremely sweet …
Two children found guns and injured other children today, once again in Texas and Ohio. In Houston, Texas, a boy described as 6- or 7-years old, found a loaded gun and shot his five-year old sister in the leg. She was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries. Several family members were home at the time of …
In Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, a 12-year old girl was accidentally shot in the wrist by a 12-year old friend. When police arrived at the scene, they found the girl with blood dripping down her arm and a sweatshirt tied around her hands. Witnesses told police that the 16-year old had accidentally shot the girl. According …
In Candor, North Carolina, an 11-year old was killed in a gun accident that occurred while he was visiting a friend. The child’s name has not been released. “Investigators learned there were six children in the home at the time of the incident and were left unsupervised, while the mother was at work,” the County …
On election day, two 12-year old boys were accidentally shot and killed in separate gun accidents. In Jackson, Michigan, Brayden Carnes, a middle school student, was at home when a gun that one of his friends had brought to his home accidentally fired. Brayden was shot in the chest. The shooter was also a child. …
In Fairview Township, Pennsylvania, a 17-year old boy died in a gun accident at his home today. He was visiting with two friends, age 14 and 15, who were showing him a gun when it discharged. None of the three children apparently knew that the gun was loaded. There is an ongoing investigation. This is …
Two people were shot and wounded today in separate accidents caused by friends who were in possession of guns illegally. In Joplin Missouri, a 48-year old man was cleaning a stolen handgun and accidentally shot his girlfriend in the abdomen. She is currently hospitalized in stable condition. Police are investigating the theft. In Murray, Utah, …
Arya Gray, a 15-year old Miami, Florida girl, was accidentally shot and killed by a 17-year old boy who was brandishing a stolen gun. According to an arrest report, 17-year old Thalys Olivera “recklessly brandished” a gun inside the apartment that Arya was visiting, and witnesses told the 17-year-old to put it away. Olivera did …
Darric Appleton, a 14-year old Phoenix, Arizona teenager, was accidentally shot and killed by a 16-year old friend. 7 children, age 5-16, were in the home at the time of the incident. No adults were present. According to police, the 16-year old brought a gun to the residence, pointed it, and accidentally pulled the trigger. …
In Biloxi, Mississipi, Bennie Hiep Lu, a 15-year old, accidentally shot and killed another teenager. The boys were playing with a gun and Lu pulled the trigger in the belief that the gun was unloaded. Reports indicate that “Bennie has been placed under arrest and is being charged as an adult with manslaughter. … After …
For the third day in a row, a child was accidentally shot in East Texas by another child. In Joaquin, Texas, 17-year old Heston Avery accidentally shot and killed his teenage friend, whose name was not reported. At the time of the shooting, Avery called for emergency help, but deputies pronounced the victim dead at …
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 …
On Valentine’s Day, four young children were shot and injured in their homes by other children. Three children were shot in two incidents in Chicago, Illinois. The other incident occurred in Dallas, Texas. An eight-year old boy and a 12-year old girl were both shot in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood on the South Side by another …
In another fatal gun accident involving a child in Pataskala, Ohio, a town of less than 16,000 people near Columbus (see December 14, 2019), 15-year old Noah Bigham shot and killed his best friend, Hunter Cooper, a high school freshman, while attempting to distract him from playing a video game. Noah was using the laser …
Of eight reports of accidental shootings today, involving a total of 11 shooting incidents, three occurred in Ohio, one each in Mississippi, Wyoming, Florida, North Carolina and Virginia. None of the 11 shootings was fatal. Two of the incidents involved accidental self-inflicted shootings, three involved young children shot accidentally by others, three involved women apparently …
A Carlisle, Ohio high school junior was accidentally shot in the face Monday evening at a friend’s home. The girl was shot through the left cheek with a .22 caliber handgun and the bullet is lodged behind her left ear. She is expected to survive. At the time of the incident, the teenager who shot …
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 …
At a house party in Bedford County, Tennessee, a 19-year old man shot and killed his teenage friend, Riley Hancock, while they played with a gun. According to witnesses, the shooter thought a recently purchased pistol was unloaded and pointed it at his friend. He fired the gun, striking and killing Hancock. The 19-year old …
In Cleveland Ohio, 11-year old Tyshaun Taylor was shot and killed in an accident at a friend’s birthday party. According to an East Cleveland City Councilman, the shooting was an accident that occurred while the boys at the party were playing with a gun. The supervising parent had left the home to go to a …
A 13-year old boy was charged with murder after shooting and killing his 14-year old friend, Zavier Mendoza, in Olathe, Kansas. Because of the defendant’s age, his name was not released when the murder charge was announced. The boy who was charged claimed that he didn’t know the gun was loaded when it went off. …