Reports of Unintended Gun Violence Collected from Media Reports Across the United States
Teen Playing With Rifle Kills 17-year-old Girl Syrina Raneri, a 17-year-old high school student was killed in what appears to be an accidental shooting in a home in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Witnesses reported that Kaden Woodring, age 17, pointed a hunting-style rifle at Raneri and shot her. Woodring admitted this, but said he asked Raneri “You …
County in South Carolina Reports Two Shootings Involving Children; Ten-year-old Girl Killed Aiken County, South Carolina, saw two accidental shootings today that involved children. In Windsor, ten-year-old Miyah Harp died after being shot in the chest by a family member handling a small-caliber rifle that accidentally fired. An autopsy will be performed, as the sheriff’s …
Guide Killed in One of Two Hunting Accidents On private property in Halfway, Oregon, 73-year-old Leroy George Trautman’s rifle unintentionally discharged, killing his hunting guide, 62-year-old Jon Marshall Nichols. Trautman and another man were riding in a side-by-side with Nicholas, when they spotted a herd of elk and got out of the vehicle. Trautman’s rifle …
Two People Killed in Hunting Accidents An 11-year-old boy was killed while hunting chipmunks with two other juveniles in Hartstown, Pennsylvania. The three children were members of a nearby Amish community. The boy was accidentally struck in the head by a round fired from a .22-caliber rifle. He was flown to the hospital where he …
Three Unintended Shootings on Halloween Dusty Clausen, of Payette, Idaho, who is the father of two young children, including one who is three months old, is in critical condition after accidentally shooting himself on Halloween. While removing a loaded rifle from a gun safe inside his home, the trigger snagged on other firearms in the …
Infant and Toddler Killed in Separate Accidental Shootings Eleven-month-old Khamari Lang, was shot and killed in a car in San Antonio, Texas, by one of his siblings. The siblings, a two-year-old and a three-year-old, were in the vehicle along with Khamari and an adult woman, whose relationship to the children was not reported. One of …
Police Officer Shoots Self During Firearms Training A firearms instructor with a local police department was injured by an accidental discharge while attending a week-long rifle course at a shooting range in Paterson, New Jersey. The officer shot himself in the leg during a drill, and was taken to the hospital in serious, but stable …
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 …
Man Killed in Accidental Shooting at Gun Range At a shooting range in Nampa, Idaho, a rifle unintentionally discharged, killing 26-year-old old Evan Michael Chase. Another man was attempting to unload the rifle when it fired, striking Chase who died at the scene. Because the sheriff’s office determined that the shooting was an accident, no …
Two Toddlers Find Guns in Vehicles, and Two Accidental Shootings Involving Law Enforcement Officers Two toddlers in Alabama shot themselves with guns they found in vehicles today. A 2-year-old boy shot himself with a gun he found in a vehicle in a Birmingham, Alabama trailer park. He was with his mother and another man, and was taken to the …
Three People Wounded in Accidental Shootings In a farm field in Stone Creek, Ohio, a 12-year-old boy was wounded when a rifle unintentionally discharged after falling off the ATV he was riding. The .22 caliber rimfire bolt-action single-shot rifle, fired a round into the boy’s chest after hitting the ground. He was airlifted to the hospital for …
Accidents with Rifle and Sawed-off Shotgun Kill Two People A group of people were socializing in Irving, Texas, when a rifle that Adrien Mendieta, 18, was handling unintentional discharged killed his friend, 20-year-old Aiden Turner. The rifle belonged to one of the witnesses and everyone on the scene cooperated with police. Mendieta was charge with …
Woman Grazed by Bullet; Neighbor Blames His Dog A woman was grazed on the arm by a bullet that came through the bedroom ceiling of her apartment in West Jordan, Utah. Her upstairs neighbor, 20-year-old D On Leonard Begay told police two slightly different stories, but in both his dog jumped on him causing the …
12-year-old Boy Accidentally Killed by Older Brother In a home in Lenoir County, North Carolina, 12-year-old Za’Dok Clark was accidentally shot in the chest by his 22-year-old brother. Despite lifesaving efforts by first responders, Za’Dok died at the scene. Circumstances of the shooting were not reported, but the gun involved was a .22 caliber rifle. …
Children Injured in Gun Accidents Today A 10-year-old in Toledo, Ohio, was accidentally shot by a 15-year-old and is in stable condition after undergoing surgery. The 15-year-old said he found the gun, but police say it’s unclear how he got it. He has been charged with felonious assault. While hunting rabbits in Ovett, Mississippi, an …
Three Accidental Gun Deaths A San Angelo, Texas man playacting with his friend’s loaded Radical Arms AR-15 rifle, which he believed was unloaded because the magazine was removed, accidentally shot and killed a relative. According to the report, Benjamin Ibarra was “conducting a fake ‘sweep’ … of the house after the thought-to-be unloaded rifle was …
Hunter Injured in Winchester Model 94 Accident In Big Flats, New York, a 41-year-old hunter was accidentally shot in the arm and had to be airlifted to the hospital for treatment. Police determined that the rifle, a scoped Winchester Model 94, lever action 30-30, belonged to a 29-year-old man who had placed it on the …
Accidental Shootings Leave One Man Dead and Four Others Wounded, Including Two Children Aric Riggins, 39, was in his car in Macon, Georgia, when he unintentionally shot and killed himself. The round struck his femoral artery. Investigators believe Riggins had a gun in his hoodie and it fired when he tried to retrieve it. A …
Three Injured in Accidental Shootings, Including Two Children A 4-year-old in Raleigh, Tennessee, found his uncle’s loaded gun and shot himself. Police were told that the gun was a .45 caliber Glock 36 handgun owned by the boy’s uncle 22-year-old Bryant Vann. In Vann’s bedroom where the shooting took place, officers didn’t find .45 caliber …
Store Employee Shot While Loading Groceries into Customer’s Car; Two Others Shot and Injured In Linden, Texas, a store employee was accidentally shot and killed while helping a customer load their vehicle. According to the report, Larry Lawrence, an employee of Crump Food Stores, placed a bag in the rear of a customer’s car near …
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; …
Woman Helping Clean a Rifle is Accidentally Shot and Boy is Injured While Target Shooting Robert Sipe, 45, of Findlay, Ohio, unintentionally shot a woman who was helping him clean a rifle. The rifle had not been cleared, and when the trigger was pulled during the cleaning process, a single round was discharged striking 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 …
Six-year-old Shoots Sister While Looking for Candy; Deputy’s Rifle Discharges While Executing a Warrant In Marion County, Mississippi, a 3-year-old was unintentionally shot in the head by her 6-year-old brother. During the investigation, the sheriff’s office learned that the boy came across a loaded firearm while looking for candy in their grandmother’s bedroom. The victim …
Four People Injured in Gun Accidents In Vale, North Carolina, 7-year-old Mai Yang’s 11-year-old brother, accidentally shot her in the face with a rifle. Mai was airlifted to the hospital and is in serious but stable condition. The children’s father, Thay Yang, explained, “[h]e didn’t realized the gun was loaded. He thought it was on …
Young Boys Find Loaded Assault Rifle at Home and Both are Injured It took two days for Desiree Felder, a 26-year-old Baton Rouge, Louisiana mom, to acknowledge a gun accident that injured her son and her nephew. One of the children is three and the other is six. Police were called to a hospital Monday …
Fifteen-year-old Dies While Hunting Turkeys A fifteen-year-old boy who was turkey hunting in Perquimans County, North Carolina accidentally fired his rifle and shot and killed himself today. According to a spokesperson for the Wildlife Resources Commission, “[t]he 17-year-old stood up to look across a field with binoculars, and while he was standing, he heard the …
Follow Up: Boy Scouts Seek to Avoid Liability for Death of an 11-year-old at a Hawaii Shooting Range More details have recently emerged in the death of an 11-year-old boy scout who was accidentally shot and killed on August 28, 2022 while sitting in a chair at a boy scout shooting range in Hawaii. According …
Two Young People Accidentally Shot During Intentional Gun Incidents Two people were killed today in incidents that fall in the complicated legal gray area between intentional and unintentional. A Mercedes, Texas kidnapping incident turned fatal when one of the kidnappers struck the head of the intended victim with the butt of a rifle. The gun …
Lindell Mays of New Orleans, Louisiana was arrested today after a four-year old boy was shot in the parking lot of a local store. Mays was charged by New Orleans police with mishandling a firearm “with respect to minors.” It is unclear if the boy got ahold of the gun in a car when he …
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. …
Bryson Jackson, a Memphis, Tennessee three-year old, shot himself to death today with an unsecured and loaded AR-15 that he found in his home. The guns belonged to his mother’s friend, Tedrick Butler. Bryson’s mom, Tinesha Jackson, had left Bryson and another child at home in the care of an uncle while she and Butler …
In Middlebury, Indiana, a 10-year old boy accidentally shot his 12-year old sister in the leg with a rifle round. The girl was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. No other information was reported. Source: “Police News: Middlebury Girl Accidentally Shot in the Leg,” The Goshen News (January 10, 2022).
Florida A&M University baseball player Dalton Harrell, age 21, was accidentally shot in the chest and killed today in Bainbridge, Georgia. He was with friends in the parking lot of the local country club when a rifle discharged in what authorities called a “freak accident.” After investigation, no arrests were made. The circumstances of the …
At least two fatal gun accidents occurred today. In Pineville, Kentucky, Kyle Garrett, a 23-year old 911 dispatcher was accidentally shot and killed while trading guns with another dispatcher. The two men were best friends and cousins who frequently traded guns. According to local authorities, there were protocols in place to prevent non-sworn employees, including …
In St. Louis, Missouri, a two-year old accidentally shot his father in the back with a rifle. The unidentified man, who was in his 20s, died at the scene. No further information is available. A Corry, Pennsylvania man, 64-year old Gary Hunt, was shot and killed while hunting bear with a friend. According to an …
In Elk Creek, Missouri, children playing outdoors got access to a rifle from inside a parked vehicle. A nine-year old was shot and killed by a younger sibling in the incident. “With the age of the child we are talking about I don’t think they can fully grasp the consequences of what has happened,” the …