7 year old Pennsylvania boy shot by own father at gun store

A father accidentally shot and killed his own son, aged 7, outside of a gun store in Pennsylvania. From an article:

Authorities say a 7-year-old boy was shot to death when a gun accidentally went off as his father was getting into his truck outside a western Pennsylvania gun store.

The boy was shot Saturday morning at Twigs Reloading Den in East Lackawannock Township, 60 miles north of Pittsburgh. Store owner Leonard Mohney said it happened in the parking lot.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported that the boy was shot when his father's handgun went off as the man got into the truck while holding the gun.

Police said 44-year-old Joseph V. Loughrey told them he had emptied the magazine but didn't realize a bullet was still in the chamber. Seven-year-old Craig Allen Loughrey was shot in the chest and died at the scene.

Guns should always be treated as if they are loaded.

From another article about this incident:

photo from the linked article

But officials are still reviewing surveillance video from the shop, the father  could face charges, including manslaughter and negligence, Hermick said.

'I know that little kid was everything to him,' Mark McLaughlin, a friend and co-worker of Loughrey’s at Superior Well Services in Fredonia, told the local paper. 

The father had visited the gun shop on Saturday morning, with his son accompanying him inside the store, to try and sell two guns - one a scope rifle and handgun, state police said. 

The shop owner was not interested in the offerings so Loughrey and his son returned to the truck. (...) 

Loughrey place the 7-year-old in a booster seat on the passenger side and he loaded the long rifle into the truck. 

He was attempting to get inside and reached to put the handgun in the center storage console when it fired, state police said.

Loughrey and Craig’s mother are divorced and the 44-year-old father had custody of the child over the weekend. 

'He was a wonderful little kid. He was special. He was full of life, a lot of fun,' McLaughlin said.