Man unintentionally fires gun and wounds two teen boys in face and neck

A 35-year old man, Mansa Evans was in his Santa Maria, California, home with two teen boys, showing off his gun to them.  He unintentionally discharged his gun.  The bullet hit one boy in the face, then exited and hit the other boy in the neck.

From the article:

Police say Evans failed to clear the chamber of the weapon and it discharged at close range.
They say the bullet struck the first boy in the face, causing substantial injuries.

The bullet exited and struck the second boy in the neck, where it lodged in his spinal cord area.

Police say both boys were transported to hospitals for specialized medical treatment. One was airlifted.

Mansa was booked in the local jail for felony child endangerment.

UPDATE (4/25/12):  One boy has recovered enough to go to school.

A Santa Maria teenager who was accidentally shot in the face by his father April 8 has returned to school, and his cousin, who was hit in the neck with the same bullet, is recovering at a hospital in Los Angeles.

Tyeshai “Tye” Evans is back at school, according to his Facebook page, but it is not clear what school he attends. His cousin, Dyallo Loper, was listed in stable condition Friday at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, a hospital spokesman said. The boys are in their early teens.

The boys were injured when Mansa Evans, 35, of Santa Maria, was showing Tye Evans, his son, and Loper, a nephew, a handgun at his East Central Avenue house on Easter morning and the gun accidentally discharged, police have said.
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According to the affidavit, the elder Evans entered the bathroom of his home with Loper and his son. Evans removed the magazine of the semi-automatic handgun, and the teens looked at the magazine. The gun then fired, hitting both of them.

Loper told a police officer that Evans handed the firearm to a man named Johnny DeWitt after the shooting, then dragged Loper out of the bathroom, the affidavit said.

DeWitt drove Tye Evans to Marian Regional Medical Center and dropped him off before returning to the house for undetermined reasons, according to the affidavit. He then went back to Marian.

As he was leaving the hospital a second time, DeWitt was contacted by a police officer. The officer saw blood in the pickup and searched the vehicle, but did not find the firearm, according to the affidavit.

Wrote Best, “Based on the information obtained during this investigation, I believe Mansa Evans handled a firearm in an irresponsible manner in front of children, which he ultimately discharged (unintentionally according to his statement); however, I believe that Evans endangered the two children by handling and discharging the firearm in front of them, which led to their great bodily injury.”

The search warrant was filed in order to search the house for the missing firearm.

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