10 year old Memphis, Tennessee boy shoots his brother on Christmas Day

A Christmas Day "accidental" shooting resulted in the death of a 10 year old Tennessee boy. From an article:

A 10-year-old Memphis boy was killed when police say his own brother accidentally shot him on Christmas Day.

Jim Devine stood on his front porch Christmas Day, beside a "God So Loved" stop the violence sign. 

"This is really sad," he said. 

Across the street, he watched as police responded to the call that a 10-year-old boy was shot in a home full of people celebrating the holiday. 

"I'm sorry to hear it.  It's on Christmas Day and I wish he had enjoyed his Christmas," a neighbor said. (...) 

Police say the boys were in a bedroom playing with an unsecured gun. 

Investigators say an adult family member was in the room during the shooting, but didn't notice the children discovered the gun until it fired. 

Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.

14 year old Texas boy wounded in accidental shooting

Another "accidental" or unintentional shooting has critically wounded a 14 year old Texas boy. The media first reported that the teen had died but he is allegedly wounded. From an article:

Several men were at a home at 3028 Hanger Avenue when a 24-year-old man pulled out a handgun. According to the man, he was unaware that the gun was loaded and shot the victim in the head, just above his left eye.

12 year old Washington boy accidentally shot by grandfather on Christmas Day

A Washington grandfather was wrestling with his grandson on Christmas day while wearing a holstered gun. The gun went off and shot his grandson in the leg. From an article:

The boy and his grandfather were roughhousing together in the living room of a home on the 14000 block of East Jacobs Road when a handgun in a concealed holster on the grandfather’s belt went off, according to the Sheriff’s Office. The bullet went through the boy’s right calf. 

2 month old Pennsylvania baby shot and killed accidentally

A 2 month old baby was shot and killed in Pennsylvania just before Christmas. From an article:

A two-month-old baby girl in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, has been killed after a family member accidentally shot her dead on Christmas Even while handling a handgun. (...) 

The circumstances of the shooting are not clear and police did not say why anyone was handling a firearm in the same room as the infant. 

Babies should be safe in their homes from bullets.

14 year old Colorado girl mistakenly shot by step father and dies of injuries

A Colorado teen is dead after her step-father said he mistook her for a burglar and he shot her dead outside of the home. From an article about the incident:

A 14-year-old girl mistaken for a burglar was fatally shot by her stepfather Monday at their residence in northeast Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs police said.

According to a statement from police spokesman Larry Herbert, the shooting happened just before 6 a.m. on the 4000 block of Ascendant Drive, off North Carefree Circle and Peterson Road.

"The initial call came in as a burglary-in-progress," Herbert said.

The girl was taken to an area hospital where she died of gunshot wounds.

Colorado teen dies of gunshot injuries in Arapahoe High School school shooting

Claire Davis, 17, died of the gunshot injuries she suffered one week ago in the Colorado school shooting:

The 17-year-old senior who was in a coma after being shot point-blank at a Colorado high school last week died Saturday with her family at her side, hospital officials said. 

Claire Esther Davis, a senior at Arapahoe High School in Centennial, Colo., was critically injured when student Karl Halverson Pierson, 18, entered the school building on Dec. 13 armed with a shotgun and Molotov cocktail bombs. (...) 

Authorities said Pierson's attack lasted just 80 seconds. Officials believe the teen was angry after losing his coveted spot on the debate team.

"His intent was evil and his evil intent was to harm multiple individuals," Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson said last week.

Upon entering the school, Robinson said, Pierson fired one round down the hallway. He then shot Claire, who just happened to be sitting nearby with a friend as he headed toward the library. Claire suffered severe head trauma, which put her in a coma. 

Robinson said Claire was an innocent victim who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Claire was going to school that day and in the right place.

 

Arizona 3 year old finds gun and shoots himself

Another 3 year old is dead from gunshot wounds. This Arizona child found a gun in his house and shot himself in the face:

Police in Arizona say that a toddler accidentally shot himself in the face with his parent’s gun. The 3 year-old boy is dead.

Officer Philip Steele told KVOA  that the shooting occurred on Friday night at the family’s home in Sahuarita, south of Tucson. (...) According to Steele, the parents told investigators the firearm was inadvertently misplaced for a short time, which is when the child found it.

Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.

South Dakota toddler shot mom while trying to get gun away

In a different sort of scenario, a South Dakota mom tried to get a gun away from her toddler and was shot accidentally when the toddler pulled the trigger. She was injured in the leg and taken to the hospital. From an article:

A mom was accidentally shot in the leg trying to take a loaded revolver away from her toddler on Thursday, according to Rapid City police.

The 22-year-old mother discovered her 23-month-old son playing with an unsecured revolver around 9 p.m. in a home on East Custer Street, according to police spokeswoman Tarah Heupel.

Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.

16 year old Indiana girl shot by young man showing guns to friends

A 16 year old Indiana girl is dead after a friend thought he had unloaded the gun he was showing to friends:

According to the affidavit, McDaniel was showing Peters and the two other men a shotgun and a handgun. Dajuan Williams, one of the men, told police that "McDaniel tried to get Aubrey to hold the gun, but she didn't want to."

At that point, Williams told police, McDaniel ejected the magazine from the gun, pointed the weapon at Peters, took the safety off and pulled the trigger.

McDaniel apparently thought the gun was empty, the affidavit said, but when he pulled the trigger, a round fired.

"Aubrey clutched her chest and said, 'What just happened?' " the affidavit said. Williams told police that while he attempted to help Peters, McDaniel gave the men a story to tell police.

"McDaniel then stated, 'The story is the gun fell off the table and went off,' " the affidavit said.

There are really no "accidental" shootings.

Indiana 3 year old finds parents gun and shoots and kills himself

Another toddler is dead from a gunshot injury that occurred when he found his parents' gun on a counter and shot and killed himself. From an article:

Police responded to the scene after 6 p.m. where they found the boy inside the home suffering from a gun shot wound to the head. The child was then rushed to Riley Hospital for Children in critical condition and later died of his injuries.

Investigators have indicated that they believe the child accidentally shot himself in the head after he pulled the gun off a kitchen counter.

A neighbor to the family said "I've known they had guns; they've carried them in public on their side, they've got permits for them and I just thought they always were a little bit more responsible than that,"

The child lived in Indiana.

Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.

Arkansas man shoots 4 month old and 4 year old grandchildren

An Arkansas man, angry over a domestic dispute, has shot his 4 month old and 4 year old grandchildren, himself and one other person. From an article:

New details are emerging in a triple homicide/suicide in which a man allegedly shot and killed two of his grandchildren and his daughter's boyfriend before turning the shotgun on himself. (...) 

Witnesses said they thought Adams fired a warning shot into the air, but had actually shot Williams, who later died. 

Adams' daughter ran outside and tried to keep him from shooting inside the car, but he ran around the other side of the car and shot 4-month-old Chastyn Williams. The only motive they have so far in these two killings is that Adams didn't like Michael Williams, and had even referred to him and the infant as "being demons," Sheriff Brown says.

Adams then shot his 4-year-old granddaughter, Kierra Adams, in the back after chasing her, her grandmother and another child out of a bedroom in which they had barricaded themselves.

5 year old New Hampshire boy shoots himself with gun belonging to parent

A 5 year old New Hampshire boy was "playing with a gun" at 2:30 a.m. and shot himself in the lower extremity. From an article:

The couple told officers the child was playing with a handgun, which belongs to Bishop.

The child was treated for non-life-threatening injuries at the Elliot Hospital after the shooting was reported at 2:30 a.m. at 420 Spruce St., police said.

Police said the injuries were to the child's lower extremity.

Manchester police seized the .22-caliber handgun and said the incident is under investigation.

And further, the owner of the gun has issued an unusual public statement criticizing people who have made comments about the incident, stating that the incident was an "ACCIDENT".

Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.

3 year old North Carolina child shot by another 3 year old child

Two 3 year old children found an unsecured gun in a North Carolina home. One of them shot and injured the other. From an article:

A 3-year-old girl was taken to the hospital after apparently being accidentally shot by another 3-year-old child Tuesday afternoon, Randolph County deputies said.

The incident was reported around 12:45 p.m. at a home on Cameron Circle in Asheboro. The condition of the child wasn't immediately known.

An adult woman told deputies she was cleaning when she heard a shot fired from another room. The woman entered the other room, where children were playing, and found the girl shot.

Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.

10 year old Arkansas boy shot by sibling

A 10 year old Arkansas boy was shot in the stomach by his sibling. From an article:

Cross County Sheriff J. R. Smith says the 10 year old was shot with a .22-caliber pistol in the stomach area at a home east of Wynne, off Hwy. 64. The child was flown to Le Bonheur Children's Hospital while his injuries do not appear to be life-threatening.

Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.

14 year old boy accidentally shot by hunting gun

A 14 year old Washington boy was accidentally shot in the arm when a hunting gun bumped around in a car and discharged:

 A 14-year old boy was accidentally shot on Monday while on a hunting trip with his father, according to Lewis & Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton.(...) 

According to Sheriff Dutton, the teen had not been hunting before. He used a magazine drop to unload the weapon. It became apparent later, however, there was still one shell in the chamber.

On the drive back to camp, the son had placed the butt of the gun on the vehicle floor and the muzzle toward the roof. They hit a bump causing the rifle to discharge.

The bullet struck the son in the right bicep, exiting the right shoulder. The bullet exited the roof of the pickup truck.

4 year old North Carolina child accidentally shoots himself

A 4 year old North Carolina boy found a gun at his home and shot and killed himself:

Fayetteville police said officers responded to 1608 Stanford Court around 10:45 a.m. in reference to a child being shot. Upon arrival, emergency responders performed life-saving techniques on Killian Perez but the he was pronounced dead at the scene.

An investigation revealed the boy located and retrieved a loaded handgun that was stored on the top of a refrigerator. Police said the child then was able to manipulate the gun and shot himself.

The father has been arrested for involuntary manslaughter.

Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.

1 year old child shot by father

A Colorado man has shot and killed his 1 year old child in an argument with the child's mother. From an article:

Merrick McKoy, 22, allegedly shot his daughter to death after an argument with the child's mother at her home at 7030 Stuart St., according to a news release from Westminster police.

McKoy also shot himself an unknown number of times and was taken to St. Anthony, police said. Police did not release an update on McKoy's condition.

There was a restraining order against the shooter.

6 year old Mississippi girl dies of injuries in accidental discharge

A 16 year old boy handling a gun in a home accidentally fired the gun. The bullet went through a wall and shot a 6 year old girl in the head. She has died of her injuries. From an article:

Warren County Coroner Doug Huskie says that 6-year-old Jamerica Ragsdale died at 1:36 Thursday morning. She was shot in the head Tuesday at her grandmother's home on Cooper Drive, west of Vicksburg.

There was a 16 year old in the house in an adjacent bedroom handling a 22 caliber pistol," said Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace. "The firearm discharged. The projectile went through the wall of the bedroom into the living room where the child was standing and struck the child in the head."

"Yeah it was an accident," said Nikia Ragsdale, Jamerica's uncle. "But he shouldn't been playing with guns."

Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.

7 month old New Orleans baby shot while sitting in car

A 7 month old baby was sitting in a car seat when an "ambush" resulted in the shooting death of the baby and his father in New Orleans. From an article:

A man and a 7-month-old boy were fatally shot in an apparent ambush on a New Orleans bridge.

Someone opened fire on the 25-year-old man Wednesday night as he rode in the back seat of a black Honda Accord on the Crescent City Connection bridge, police spokesman Frank B. Robertson III told The Associated Press.

The boy was in a car seat beside the man, Robertson said. He says a woman who was driving and another woman who was a front-seat passenger were not hurt.

16-year-old arrested for shooting three other teens

16-year-old Anjohnito Willet, of Pittsburgh, PA, was arrested and charged with wounding three teens and shooting at a fourth near Brashear High School in Pittsburgh.

He was charged with four counts of attempted homicide, aggravated assault, reckless endagerment, and illegally possessing a firearm as a juvenile.

According to reports:

Willet was attempting to get revenge for a robbery and assault last month, said police.

Police said the shooting victims - Brashear students Andrew Umphrey, 17, DaJour Jones, 15, and Robert Minor, 17 - were suspects in an Oct. 18 assault inside the school in which Willet was the victim.

Willet "decline to prosecute," said police. "He made remarks that he would take matters in to his own account."

Two of the shooting victims were shot in the head and the third was shot in the foot less than a quarter-mile from the school. They are recovering in area hospitals.

Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.

9 year old Florida boy brings loaded gun on school bus

A 9 year old boy was found with a loaded gun on a school bus. From an article:

A nine-year-old boy was arrested after bringing a loaded gun on a school bus headed toward Ippolito Elementary School in Riverview.

According to investigators, around 8:15 Wednesday morning, the bus driver overheard two students talking on the bus, then witnessed one of them putting a gun into the front pocket of his pants.

Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.

Arkansas child accidentally shoots father in back in Walmart parking lot

A child climbing into a truck grabbed hold of his father's gun while getting in and shot his father in the back. From an article:

RPD Public Information Officer Drew Latch stated police responded to 2409 E. Main St. (Walmart) at approximately 11:04 a.m. Saturday. in reference to a possible shooting. Upon arrival, officers witnessed a man who had injuries to his back. After further investigation, it was determined the man had accidentally been shot by his child. While the child was attempting to enter the vehicle, the child accidentally grabbed a hold of a loaded shotgun, that had not been secured, to help pull himself into the vehicle (truck).

While grabbing the shotgun the child accidentally pulled the trigger and caused the shotgun to discharge and strike his father in the back.

Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.

 

Teen unintentionally shoots and killled

16-year-old Ryan Willes, of Burley, Idaho was unintentionally shot and killed over the weekend.  According to an article:

Willes was accidentally killed Saturday night when shot at a west Cassia County resident where people were cleaning their guns.

Willes was shot in the neck and passed away at the scene.

The accident occurred after the group had been out hunting earlier in the day.

The incident is under investigation.

4 year old Missouri girl shot by man target shooting

A 4 year old girl walked into the area where a Missouri man was target shooting. The girl was shot in the head and died of her injuries. From an article:

According to Christian County Sheriff Joey Kyle, the girl had been brought to the home as a visitor. The 24-year-old man who lived in the house was outside target shooting with a .22-caliber rifle.

“The position he was shooting from — his vision was blocked to his right — and a visiting 4-year-old girl walked into the path of fire and he shot her in the head,” Kyle said.

The girl was taken to a Springfield hospital but died as a result of a single gunshot wound

15 year old Tennessee boy shot while toilet papering neighbor's house

A Tennessee man shot a 15 year old boy while he was toilet papering the home of a neighbor. From the article:

A Tennessee man is facing multiple charges after shooting a 15-year-old boy with a shotgun when he saw him using toilet paper to “roll” a neighbor’s home.

Franklin County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. Chris Guess told the Chattanooga Times Free Press that Dale Bryant Farris had observed several teens spreading toilet paper around the yard of Huntland School Principal Ken Bishop on the night of Oct. 20.

“Some kids got out at a residence over there to roll it with toilet paper and this gentleman came out of his residence a couple of houses over and shot one of the teenagers who was rolling this other guy’s yard,” the officer explained.

“He got peppered pretty good,” Guess said. “The problem is they were not on his [Farris'] property and they were not doing anything to his property.”

According to the Times Free Press, the teen was shot “in the right foot, inner left knee, right palm, right thigh and right side of his torso above the waistline.”

Many more child shooting incidents

Since it is becoming difficult to keep up with all of the gun incidents and shootings of and by children, we will refer you to a recent post by Joe Nocera who writes a regular Gun Report in which he is keeping track of the shootings and gun incidents since the Newtown shooting last December. In this particular post, there were a lot of kid shooting incidents. Here they are from the post:

A 2-year-old girl was shot at an apartment building in Bangor, Maine, Wednesday afternoon. A neighbor believes the shooting was accidental, and that the gun went off when it hit the floor. The child’s family was home at the time.

—Bangor Daily News

Three children—ages 3, 5 and 7—were shot while sleeping in their home in Jackson, Miss., early Wednesday. Someone in a vehicle opened fire on their home just after midnight. Investigators are trying to identify the target of the shooting.

—ClarionLedger.com

An 11-year-old boy was shot in the shoulder in southwest Atlanta, Ga., Wednesday night. His brother carried him a few houses down the street to their home, where a family member called 911. Investigators believe the child was struck as two groups of people exchanged gunfire in the street. No one is in custody.

—AJC.com

A 13-year-old girl was wounded when a bullet came through her bedroom wall in St. Petersburg, Fla., Tuesday afternoon. Police said a firearm accidentally discharged when her 14-year-old cousin was trying to unload it in a bathroom. Detectives are trying to identify who provided the boy with the firearm, which has not been located.

—The Tampa Tribune

A 14-year-old boy was shot in the chest and arm in the Knoxville neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pa., Tuesday evening. The victim and several of his friends were sitting on a porch when someone came out from between two homes and began shooting. Police said the victim is not cooperating.

—WPXI.com

A 16-year-old boy was shot in the chest and critically injured and a man was shot in the back in the Sixth Ward of New Orleans, La., Wednesday night. Police haven’t announced a suspect or a motive.

—WWLTV.com

A 16-year-old student at Woodrow Wilson High school in Dallas, Tex., was shot and wounded in a park near the campus Tuesday afternoon. Emilio Tovar, 19, who graduated from the school two years ago, walked into a police station and surrendered. He claimed friends on Facebook framed him.

—WFAA.com

A 16-year-old boy was shot and wounded while walking with his friends in north St. Louis, Mo., Tuesday night. Someone took out a gun and began firing at the group. The victim tried to run away but realized he had been shot in the back. An investigation is ongoing.

—KMOV.com

A teenage boy, thought to be 15 or 16, was shot at an apartment complex in Arlington, Tex., early Wednesday. Upon being shot, the victim tried to break into the front door of a nearby supermarket. He was found in the supermarket’s parking lot. No word on possible suspects.

—CBS DFW

A junior high school student shot and wounded himself in the bathroom of his school in Smithville, Tex., Wednesday morning. The school was placed on a brief lockdown.

So, if we are counting correctly, there were 12 children shot in 8 different states. Of those, one was an accident or attempted suicide. One was an accidental shooting. All of the children suffered injuries with no deaths. Thank you to Joe Nocera and his staff for compiling the data about the many shootings occurring every day in the country.

Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.

11 year old Rochester, NY boy shot by stray bullet

A street gunfight resulted in the injury of an 11 year old boy on a Sunday morning in New York.  From an article:

Two people were charged Monday in connection with a Sunday morning shooting that wounded a child near Chili Avenue and Thurston Road. According to police, the 11-year-old boy is recovering at Strong Hospital, surrounded by family. The second victim has been arrested. 29-year-old Quentin Singletary, of Rochester, was charged with criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree. Police said Singletary took part in the gun exchange that got him and the boy shot. Singletary got hit in the upper body and is expected to survive. Dominique Williams, 27, was also arrested, charged with criminal possession of a weapon in the third. Williams was not at the shooting scene but police said officers later recovered the gun inside the home she shares with Singletary. (...) 

Police believe the third suspect knows Singletary and an argument escalated to the shooting. “The fact that this occurred on a Sunday at 10:30 in the morning, personally, I think it’s atrocious,” Sheppard said. “I think this neighborhood has to feel the same way and we’re hoping that once we push this information and push this photo someone will come forward." The 11-year-old is not connected to any of the suspects, police said he was in the wrong place and the wrong time and got caught in the crossfire.

Bullets don't know where to stop.

1 year old Georgia toddler dead of wounds from BB gun

Even BB guns can be fatal. An Atlanta area father was "scaring" his one year child with a BB gun when it went off and shot the little boy in the chest. From an article:

Dickerson said Jesse Sellers, 23, was playing with a BB rifle, trying to scare his son, when he pulled the trigger.

Dickerson told CBS Atlanta News Jesse Sellers didn't realize the gun was loaded and that he said it was an accident. He said the child's grandmother performed CPR on the toddler.

Renee Holmes is the child's mother's cousin. She said Jesstin was the youngest of four children, and his mother was not doing well coping with his death. Holmes had this to say about Jesse Sellers, "They were deeply in love. He's torn. He's broken by this. Jesse is really a good father."

3 year old Colorado child died of gunshot wound to the head

A 3 year old child in Colorado died of gunshot injuries to his head. There seems to be some confusion as to who fired the legally owned gun. From an article:

When police and paramedics arrived they found a semiautomatic handgun lying near his head. Police say the gun appeared to have been fired. The boy was rushed to the hospital with severe skull trauma. He was pronounced dead at 11:15 a.m.

Investigators are still trying to sort out exactly what happened. They say it's unclear who fired the gun.

The boy and his mother were the only ones in the house at the time of the incident.

Though it is not known yet whether the child shot himself, more information will come for this incident.  We will publish further information as it is available. But we will say anyway:

Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.

Two year old Pennsylvania child shot in murder/suicide

A domestic dispute over a marriage break-up has resulted in the murder/suicide of a Pennsylvania man and his two year old daughter. From an article:

Grandfather Tom Hess said shortly before the killings, Nick called Camryn’s mother Jessee with a chilling message.

“Told her to say good-bye to her daughter, she said ‘What do you mean?’ he said, ‘I’ve got one bullet for her and one for me,’” said Hess.

Family members said the parents split up about a week and a half ago.

“We thought he was just trying to scare us, we called 911 and said to get the police over here,” said Hess.

Just one day before, the family celebrated the little girl’s second birthday, which would have been on Tuesday.

“She loved Minnie Mouse, that was the big theme of the party, Minnie Mouse, she loved it, first thing in the door in the morning she would say that I want to see Minnie.”

12 year old Virginia boy dies in accidental shooting

Another child has found a gun and was unintentionally shot to death. From an article:

A 12-year-old boy was killed Saturday afternoon in the woods near his house in Madison County in what authorities, and the boy’s father, are calling an accidental shooting.

Dax Dixon of Pratts, a small community in Madison, died Saturday afternoon while playing with a neighbor friend, the boy’s father, Dan Dixon, said Sunday.

The Madison County Sheriff’s Office responded to what it described as an accidental shooting involving two juveniles shortly after 5 p.m. Saturday, a news release said. Deputies found Dax Dixon dead at the scene, the release said.

The investigation is ongoing. The Sheriff’s Office would not comment further on Sunday.

Dan Dixon said he was at work at the time and did not know his son was at the neighbor’s house. He said his son had been staying with a relative over the weekend, and was unaware that the boy had been brought back to the neighborhood.

Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.

5 year old Texas boy shoots and kills himself

A 5 year old Texas boy has died of gunshot injuries after finding a gun in his home and shooting himself. From an article:

A 5-year-old boy was found killed by a single-shot wound to the head in Vidor at approximately 2:45 p.m. Monday.

According to Chief Deputy Clint Hodgkinson with the Orange County Sheriff's Office, they received a call to the at approximately 2:45 p.m. on a call of an unresponsive child on Scott Drive in North Vidor.

Investigators say the shooting happened in the 1200 block of Roberts Road. The child was being watched by a babysitter at his parent's home when the shooting occurred.

Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.

7th grade Nevada student shoots teacher and himself

A 7th grade Nevada boy walked into his middle school and shot his teacher, himself and wounded two other students. From an article:

When a disgruntled seventh-grader with a gun entered his classroom at Sparks Middle School on Monday, Landsberry rushed toward the student, attempting to shield his class and talk the gunman into dropping his weapon. Instead, the youth shot and killed Landsberry before wounding two more students and taking his own life. The news of Landsberry’s death has rocked the community of Sparks and neighboring Reno.

“In my estimation, he is a hero,” Tim Robinson, deputy chief of the Sparks police, said at an afternoon press conference. “We do know he was trying to intervene.”

CNN reports that both wounded students are in stable condition at a nearby hospital. Neither they nor the killer have been identified publicly due to their age. Authorities have, however, revealed that the 13-year-old killer used a handgun stolen from his parents' house in the shooting.

Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.

2 year old North Carolina toddler shoots herself with gun found in home

A 2 year old North Carolina girl found a gun in her home and shot herself. She died from the injuries. From an article:

A 2-year-old girl is dead after accidentally shooting herself with a handgun inside a North Carolina home, according to multiple reports.

Police said the girl, who was nicknamed "Coco," found a loaded handgun and that it discharged, local NBC affiliate WNCN-TV reported. She was at the home with her aunt and grandmother at the time.

Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.

Bail reduced for man who shot 3 year old Texas boy in the face

Back in September we wrote about a man who shot a 3 year old Texas boy in the face for no reason at all. ( September 3, 2013). Now a judge is reducing the bail for this heinous crime. From an article:

A judge reduced the bail Friday for a Dallas man accused of shooting an 8-year-old boy in the face last month.

Brian Cloninger, 46, has remained in the Dallas County jail since he was arrested Sept. 3 after police say he shot Donald Maiden Jr. in the face. District Judge Larry Mitchell lowered the bail from $2.2 million to $1 million after Cloninger’s attorney asked that the amount be reduced to $25,000.

Investigators believe Cloninger had been drinking before he shot Maiden at the boy’s Lake Highlands apartment complex, Prosecutor Tammy Kemp said at the hearing Friday.

At the time of the shooting, Cloninger was still serving a 15-month probationary sentence for a 2012 DWI in Travis County. He was charged in 2002 with driving under the influence in Palm Beach.

Cloninger was not allowed to consume alcohol while on probation, prosecutors said. Police found a beer can in his truck after the shooting.

Police said Maiden was outside his Lake Highlands apartment complex looking for his bike when Cloninger shot him. Maiden recently returned home after a month-long hospital stay.

Every day since returning home, Maiden asks his mother, Monique Locklin, to call to make sure Cloninger is still behind bars, Locklin said.

“He’s afraid,” she said. “And he doesn’t do well around people he’s not familiar with.”

Police said no witnesses saw the shooting, but several apartment residents told police they heard the shot. One witness approached Cloninger after the shooting to ask if he had shot the boy, Det. Paolo Sparacino said at the hearing.

Little boys should be able to play outside without being shot in the face for no reason.

3-year-old finds gun on bed, unintentionally shoots himself

A 3-year-old boy from Kansas City, Missouri found a loaded, unlocked handgun on his father's bed. According to reports:

Police say the 3-year-old boy accidentally shot himself in the stomach, after the boy's father left a loaded handgun lying on his bed. Just before 7 p.m. Monday night, the boy's father, Nate Steward, 34, said he returned home from the store with his 3-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter.

As Steward walked into his home with his children, he told police the handgun he was carrying inside his pants started to fall down his leg. Steward says he got into his house quickly so the gun would not fall out of his pants. Once inside, he says he placed the loaded handgun on his bed in the bedroom while his kids were in the living room and kitchen. The father then went to the back door to let one of his dogs out. While outside with the dog, Steward told police he heard a gunshot inside the home. He went back in to find his 3-year-old son bleeding and holding his stomach. The boy fell to the floor and Steward picked him up and rushed him to Children's Mercy Hospital in his own car.

The boy had surgery and should recover.

Police said when they arrived at the hospital they saw Steward's gun in plain view on the passenger seat of his car. The doors were unlocked and the windows rolled down. Anyone could have grabbed the gun.

Police did not indicate if Steward had a concealed weapons permit or if any charges will be filed.

Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.

4-year-old finds handgun in family car, shoots himself

A 4-year-old boy from La Plata, Maryland was playing outside his home. His grandmother was watching him. According to the police report:

The grandmother reported that the boy got into a car which was parked in the driveway and suddenly she heard a gunshot. The child ran to her and she noticed he had an injury to his head.

The child was flown to a hospital where it was learned he had a graze wound.

A computer check revealed the gun - a 9mm semi-automatic handgun - is registered to a member of the child's family. At this point, it is not clear why the gun was in the car and the investigation is continuing.

It should be noted that Maryland is one of the few states that requires registration of handguns. In the majority of states the police would not have been able to run a computer check on the gun to determine ownership.

8 year old Kansas boy injured by bullet

An 8 year old Kansas boy was injured in his home when bullets were fired from a car. From an article:

Bullet holes are still visible on the front of an Overland Park home where an 8-year-old boy was shot Monday night in the 10000 block of Kessler.

Overland Park Police said the boy did not have life-threatening injuries. A neighbor told 41 Action News the boy was shot in his shoulder.

Two other children and an adult woman were at home Monday night at 11:30 p.m. when the shooting occured.

According to police, the shooter fired between five and 10 shots into the home. Neighbors reported hearing the shots and at least one neighbor saw a dark colored sedan speed away from the house after the shooting.

Kids should be safe in their homes from bullets.

15 year old Chicago area teen shot in apparent gang incident

A 15 year old was shot outside of his school in what appears to be a gang related incident:

Witnesses said the victim was being chased before he was shot around 2:30 p.m. at Leland and Kimball, which is just across the street from Roosevelt High School, 3436 West Wilson. The suspect yelled a gang slogan before pulling the trigger, witnesses said.

"And then after that, the guy got shot in his leg and fell to the ground, and all I saw was a whole bunch of police start flooding the school," Darius Ortiz, witness, said.

15 year old Utah girl shot by 16 year old friend

A 15 year year old girl was shot in the stomach by a 16 year old friend:

Police said a 16-year-old shot a 15-year-old in the abdomen.  Cops said the 16-year-old boy was showing off a gun and this appears to be an accident.

It was a startling discovery for neighbor Brad Blair. Just after 4 p.m., the victim showed up on  Blair’s doorstep.

“He was still awake and everything, but he was bleeding pretty good,” Blair said.

The victim was with a female friend.  They were trying to call 911.  Moments before, the teens were hanging out with a 16-year-old acquaintance outside the apartment building.

“It sounds like he tried to fire the gun a couple times, it wasn’t working but at some point it did discharge,” said Lt. Matt Elson of the West Valley City Police Department.

Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.

13 year old Ohio girl shot in the arm

A .22 caliber rifle found in a home is allegedly responsible for the accidental shooting of a 13 year old Ohio girl. From an article:

A 13-year-old Laird Avenue girl was accidentally shot in the arm Wednesday afternoon at her house and taken to a local hospital for treatment.

3 small children killed in Waco, Texas in murder/suicide

Three small children, all members of the same family, were shot and killed in a murder/suicide in Waco, Texas. From an article:

Navarro County officials said Monday they are investigating the shooting deaths of a man, his wife and their three children as a murder-suicide.

The bodies of the five family members were discovered Sunday night by a grandfather, who had been trying to reach the family by phone at their home near Rice, just north of Corsicana.

Navarro County Sheriff Elmer Tanner identified the adults as Israel Alvarez, 33, and Guadalupe Ronquillo-Ovalle, 33.

The children were ages 10, 8 and 4, he said.

A .22-caliber rifle was recovered at the home. All five victims have “gunshot wounds to the upper torso,” Tanner said.

3 year old Texas boy accidentally shoots himself

A 3 year old found a loaded gun on the kitchen table in his home and shot himself in the chest. From an article:

A Horseshoe Bay boy is in critical condition after he accidentally shot himself in the chest Thursday, Horseshoe Bay Police said.

He was transported by ambulance to Dell Children's Hospital where he had his right lung removed. HSBPD say the 3-year-old boy's parents and a neighbor drove him to meet the ambulance on Thanksgiving Mountain.

Police went back to the victim's home with his parents where they found a loaded handgun on the kitchen table. The parents told police their son picked up the gun and it went off. They declined investigators' initial attempt to search the home.

After obtaining a search warrant, investigators learned the handgun they found was not the weapon involved in the shooting. They also uncovered more conflicting information.

One account said the victim's father hid the weapon in brush away from his house, but a search of the area didn't yield any results.

The suspected weapon was later found in a neighbor's home. Police say they found three handguns and a rifle that were taken there after the shooting.

Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.

6 year old Wisconsin boy shoots 3 year old sister in face; father tells boy to lie about shooting

A 6 year old Wisconsin boy who had access to a loaded gun, shot his 3 year old sister in the face on August 30 of this year. His father told him to change his story about how the little girl was shot. From an article:

A Wisconsin dad is under fire for allegedly telling his 6-year-old son to lie about shooting his 4-year-old sister in the face.

The incident happened Aug. 30 in Alma, Wis., when the boy allegedly found a loaded shotgun and pointed it at the girl. The gun discharged, striking the girl in the right side of her head, WKBT reported.

The girl's injuries were deemed non-life-threatening, but on Monday investigators charged the father, Fred Maphis, with leaving a loaded firearm near a child and obstructing an officer by telling the son to lie about the shooting, the LaCrosse Tribune reported.

Further in the article:

The boy's mother told investigators that her son had been trained to use firearms since he was 3 and even had his own .22 caliber rifle that he was allowed to shoot with adult supervision, RawStory.com reported.

Maphis insisted that he had just forgotten to unload and secure the shotgun.

Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.

 

3-Year Old Indiana Boy Shot to Death by Mother's Boyfriend

Lance Wilson 3, from Michigan City, Indiana was playing a game with his mother’s boyfriend on Sunday around 3:30pm. Lance pointed his finger at Zachariah Grisham 24, as if he was shooting him with a gun. Zachariah pointed a real gun at Lance and shot him. Lance was pronounced dead at the scene.

From an article:

Monday, Zachariah Grisham, 24, was held on a $100,000 bond and charged with neglect and reckless homicide in the shooting death of 3-year-old Lance Wilson, ABC Chicago reports.

“A child and the defendant were playing a game. A child pointed his finger at the defendant like he was shooting gun playing a game and he pointed a gun out and shot the boy,” LaPorte County Prosecutor Bob Szilagyi told CBS Chicago.

The incident happened around 3:30 p.m. Sunday in the mobile home park in Michigan City, Ind., roughly 60 miles east of Chicago along the lakeshore.

Neighbors said Lance was sitting on Grisham’s lap when the gun went off and the boy was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police tell the Post-Tribune Grisham was living in trailer with the boy’s mother. It was unclear if the mother was present at the time of the shooting.

Michigan City police are investigating.

Young child in California gets hold of cop's gun and injures him with it

A small child, "age 6 to 8," was attending a reading event in Lodi, California.  A police officer, who was on the SWAT team, was attending the event when the child came up to him, reached for the gun, and fired it.  The round hit the officer in the leg, injuring him.  There was no safety on the weapon.

From an article and news video:

The officer was showing off the department’s SWAT truck, vest and other gear at a children’s event called Reading Roundup on Aug. 24. 

“A small child, witnesses tell us was 6 to 8 years old, was able to walk up to the officer and was able to pull the trigger.”

The bullet hit the officer’s leg. He was taken to the hospital for a minor injury and released. 

The department is investigating the shooting to see if protocols or procedures need to be changed to prevent the same thing from happening again. 

Officers want to find the child and his parents to piece together what went wrong.

It's pretty obvious what went wrong.  Children and guns don't mix.

Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.

13-month old New Orleans girl shot to death

Londyn Samuels, age 13 months (source)

13-month old Londyn Samuels was returning from a trip to the park with her nanny, Keelan Armstrong, 18, in New Orleans, Louisiana.

That's when a gunman opened fire on them, shooting twice.  One of the rounds went through Armstrong's back and hit Londyn, in her arms, in the chest.  

Armstrong is recovering.  Londyn died soon after the incident.  She was just learning to walk.

The gunman escaped.

From an article:

Londyn Samuels, who was just learning to walk, was struck by a bullet fired into her 18-year-old nanny's back as she carried the toddler home from the park. 

"What kind of a man would shoot at a woman holding a child?" Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas said Friday as he pleaded for witnesses to the Thursday night slaying to come forward. "That's not the kind of person you want to protect." 

Two shots were fired and one of them tore through the sitter's torso, hitting Londyn in the chest. The young woman, who was expected to survive, called the child's father in anguish. 

Londyn's mother was working at a non-profit cafe dedicated to anti-violence when the shooting happened. She said at a news conference that she breaks down in tears every time she looks at a picture of her daughter. 

"I'm hurt," Andrea Samuels, 22, said as she choked back sobs. "Because that was my baby." 

Police said two men were seen running from the scene after the shooting and they released grainy surveillance photos. They did not provide a motive for the shooting, but said there was no gunfight and the two victims were not caught in any crossfire. 

...

[Londyn's father] Reed said the death of the little girl who loved Minnie Mouse and was always smiling had left a hole in his heart. 

"She just loved being around me and her mama. She was our world, you know? She was the highlight of every day," he said. 

"She was always happy. When I was down, she would crawl in the bed with me and say, 'Dada,' and hit me in the face to make me smile." 

As he mourned, he vented his anger toward the gunman. 

"My daughter didn't do anything to him," he said. "Why did she have to die?" 

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15-year old North Carolina boy injured in school shooting by fellow student

A 15-year old boy was shot and injured by an 18-year old fellow student at Carver High School in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

From an article:

Police say Christopher Lamont Richardson Jr. was arrested Friday and charged with carrying a concealed weapon, possession of firearm on school property, assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, and discharging a firearm within city limits. 

Officers responded to a report of a shooting around 2:30 p.m. Friday at Carver High School in Winston-Salem. Police say the school had been conducted a fire drill when a school resource officer heard shots fired. 

A 15-year-old student was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries.

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Stray bullet strikes New Jersey school bus

A bus carrying 3-5 year old children was struck by a stray bullet in Camden, New Jersey. From the article:

A stray bullet, apparently fired during a gang confrontation, struck a school bus in Camden on Thursday afternoon, frightening a busload of 27 preschool children.

One mother reported that her young son suffered a burn mark on his back from a shard that came from the bus window that was shattered. The bullet lodged in the ceiling of the bus, according to authorities.

The child, who was not identified, was treated at a hospital, Camden County Police Chief Scott Thomson said during a 6 p.m. news conference outside police headquarters.

Thomson said the shooting was gang-related and called the at-large shooter a "public enemy." He said a $20,000 reward was being offered for tips leading to his arrest.

"This guy is Public Enemy No. 1," Thomson said. "He clearly displayed sociopathic behavior by firing a rifle in broad daylight in a densely populated area, with an oncoming bus full of children. . . . We need to get him off the streets."

Thomson said the bus was carrying pupils between the ages of 3 and 5, and was leaving the Centerville Abbott Head Start school at 1475 S. Eighth St. to make a series of drop-offs.

Little children should be able to ride in a school bus without fear of being hit by stray bullets.

2-year old Alaskan boy shot to death by vengeful father

A 2-year old boy, Kyle Moses, was staying the night with his mother and other family members at

a home in Tununak, Alaska.  That's when Kyle's father, Edward Moses, entered the home with a shotgun and ordered everyone out at gunpoint except for his son.  After allowing the boy to talk to his aunt via phone, he then shot Kyle in the head, killing him.  

The father was later arrested after a standoff.  Kyle's body was found soon afterward nearby.

The father apparently killed the boy because he was unhappy about the mother being with another man.

From an article:

In an affidavit filed with the charges in state court in Bethel Saturday, a state trooper said Moses entered a home in the village where the child was staying with his mother on Thursday night. Moses later shot the child in the head, and told troopers afterward he was upset with his child's mother for being with another man, troopers said.  ... 

According to the affidavit, when Moses entered the home in Tununak, he "was carrying a shotgun and a bucket which (a witness) believed to have homebrew in it."
He told everyone to exit the house except for his son, and ordered them to leave their cell phones behind, the affidavit said. 

When one of the women in the home didn't immediately comply, "Edward racked his shotgun, chambered a round, and then pointed the shotgun" at her. She dropped her phone and left for a neighbor's house, she told troopers. 

An aunt of the child told troopers Moses called her later Thursday night demanding to speak with the child's mother, according to the affidavit. Moses gave the aunt 15 minutes to find the child's mother, the trooper wrote, or he would kill the child, then himself. 

As the 15 minutes neared, Moses called back, and Moses could be heard tellng the child to say goodbye to his aunt, the trooper affidavit said. The aunt then heard a gunshot over the phone, the trooper said in the court filing. 

When troopers arrived in the village on Friday, Moses was barricaded inside his father's house, and surrendered after several hours of negotiations, troopers said. 

He told the officers he had shot the child, and said he was "upset at (the child's mother) for being with another man and didn't think she should be burdened with their son," the trooper's affidavit said. 

Troopers said the child's body was found down the beach from the Moses house, with an apparent gunshot wound to the head.

Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2013/09/14/3075044/man-arrested-on-murder-charges.html#storylink=cp

Troopers said the child's body was found down the beach from the Moses house, with an apparent gunshot wound to the head.

Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2013/09/14/3075044/man-arrested-on-murder-charges.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2013/09/14/3075044/man-arrested-on-murder-charges.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2013/09/14/3075044/man-arrested-on-murder-charges.html#storylink=cpy

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Florida mother shoots 17 month old child and then herself

Another toddler has been shot- this time in Florida where a mother shot her 17 month old child before turning the gun on herself. From an article:

Police in coastal Florida are investigating after they say a mother shot her 17-month-old daughter and then turned the gun on herself.

A Sarasota police officer reported going to the family's home Sunday morning and hearing the father repeat, "She shot our baby."

A police report released Tuesday says authorities found 35-year-old Sarah Harnish lying face down in the doorway in a pool of blood, still holding a gun.

The 17-month-old baby, Josephine Boice, was lying in bed shot in the temple, but was still breathing. She later died at the hospital.

A police statement says the child's father returned home from a scooter ride before 10 a.m. and heard shots fired and called 911.

No one else was inside the home when it happened. No other details were released and it's unclear what prompted the shooting.

11-year-old unintentionally shoots and kills her 19-year-old stepfather

19-year-old Bryan Reno, of Cleveland County, North Carolina had just bought a handgun through a private sale. According to a news report:

On Friday evening, while his 35-year-old wife Pamela slept, Reno showed the gun to his 11-year-old stepdaughter. At one point, Reno removed the magazine slide from the firearm and handed the .380-caliber gun to her to examine.
"During the course of her looking at the firearm, it's apparent that she pulled the trigger of the firearm and it discharged," said the sheriff. "It just appears he failed to check the chamber to make sure there was not a bullet in the chamber, and it turned fatal."

Reno died at the scene from a gunshot would to the chest.

Child dies of gunshot injury in Yellowstone National Park

A young child has died after shooting a loaded gun off at Yellowstone National Park. From an article:

A child died of a gunshot wound on Saturday at a popular campground in Yellowstone National Park, according to park officials, who said the girl's mother reported that her young daughter had shot herself with a handgun.

Emergency responders were unable to resuscitate the girl after her mother called emergency dispatchers from a campsite near Yellowstone Lake, park spokesman Al Nash said in a statement.

The names of the mother and girl in the incident, which is under investigation, were not released pending notification of extended family members, Nash said. The child's age was also not released.

A U.S. law that took effect in 2010 allowed people to carry guns into national parks as long as federal, state and local firearms laws were met, according to the National Park Service.

Although hunting is permitted at a handful of national parks, including Grand Teton in Wyoming, hunting or even firing a gun is unlawful in Yellowstone, according to park literature.

The forested campsite where the shooting occurred sits near a developed area in the Wyoming section of the park known as Grant Village, which features a ranger station, lodge, stores and other amenities.

Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.

12 year old New Mexico boy shot and killed by 15 year old cousin

A New Mexico teen has shot and killed his 12 year old cousin after his cousin shot him with a BB gun: 

A Carlsbad, N.M., teenager has been arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter after allegedly shooting and killing his 12-year-old cousin with a handgun that he thought was unloaded. According to KASA.com, these tragic events began when 12-year-old Jeremy Hatfield pointed a BB gun at 15-year-old Michael Schultz, who reciprocated by producing an actual handgun and pulling the trigger. Schultz initially told police that Hatfield had died in a drive-by shooting, before allegedly admitting that he was the one who shot him. Now, he could face up to two years in juvenile detention.

Underage shooters in unintentional shootings like these are not usually charged with crimes, and I suspect Schultz’s initial lies to police—along with his relatively advanced age, as these sorts of shootings go—had a lot to do with why he was charged. While Schultz isn’t entirely blameless here, and while he definitely shouldn’t have told the police such a stupid lie, I don’t think that the charge should stand.

New Mexico state courts have maintained that “the culpable state of mind for involuntary manslaughter ‘comprehends evidence of an utter irresponsibility on the part of the defendant or of a conscious abandonment of any consideration for … safety.’ ” In other words, to get a conviction, a prosecutor must demonstrate that the defendant really ought to have known better. And yet, children can’t generally be expected to know better, or to realize that they are being dangerously reckless. Teenage brains are still developing, and, because of this, teenagers are prone to impulsive behavior and terrible decisions—like pointing a gun at a cousin. Schultz certainly should have known that that sort of behavior is inappropriate. But did he consciously abandon all safety considerations? I think that’d be hard to prove.

If the involuntary-manslaughter charge against Schultz stands, the case will probably be tried in juvenile court, which is some small consolation, at least. But the case shouldn’t end there. Police do not yet know how Schultz got the gun, though Hatfield’s grandfather apparently said that Schultz may have obtained it from a friend. Whatever the gun’s provenance, its owner ought to face charges, too.

Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.

8 year old Texas boy shot for no reason

An 8 year old Texas boy, playing in his apartment was shot by a man in a truck for no apparent reason:

The parents of an 8-year-old Dallas boy shot in the face Tuesday night say he is improving, even though he still needs a breathing tube and remains listed in critical but stable condition. Donald Maiden, Jr., called DJ by family and friends, was shot while playing at this Lake Highlands apartment complex. On Thursday, his parents spoke exclusively to CBS 11 News.

“When he ran in I just screamed,” said Latamarin Locklin, DJ’s mother, recalling how the boy looked as he ran home after the shooting. “His mouth was just hanging off and it was just a big hole,” she said. Locklin remembers a neighbor urging her to put pressure on her son’s mouth. “ I just threw him on the couch and laid him in my arms and put pressure on his mouth with the towel.”

“When I first saw him in ICU I started crying,” Donald Maiden, Sr. said of his son. DJ’s father was working in Louisiana. The boy was in a medically-induced coma when Dad first saw him. “I just put my head down in his bed and was holding his hand at the same time. And he opened his eyes. And when I raised back up I looked and there were tears rolling down his eyes and it gave me a little bit of spirit in my heart. It was joy, I guess he was kind of happy to know I was there. “

DJ was shot “out of the blue,” according to his mom, by a man driving a pickup truck who’d been hanging around her apartment complex.

Police arrested Brian Cloninger and are holding him on a $2.2 million dollar bond. Locklin says investigators are very helpful, but there’s still one huge unanswered question. “I just want to know why. Why?”

Children should be able to play in their homes without fear of being shot.

2 month old Minneapolis baby shot by stray bullet

A 2 month old baby was shot by a stray bullet in Minneapolis while his father held him:

A 2-month-old boy, struck by a stray bullet and critically injured Thursday night, is the latest in a string of incidents involving north Minneapolis children caught in crossfire.

Cyndi Barrington, Minneapolis police spokeswoman, said preliminary information indicates the baby was struck about 9 p.m. while being held by his father outside a home in the 2400 block of Emerson Av. N. The father told police he heard a loud bang, looked down and saw his baby had been hit, Barrington said.

The baby was listed in critical condition at Hennepin County Medical Center late Thursday night.

Police were canvassing the neighborhood in search of witnesses, information and the shooter. “A motive is unknown,” Barrington said.

Children being shot “should not be happening,” she said. “From the police perspective, we have cops out here working 24/7 and they won’t stop. But this absolutely unacceptable and the community should be outraged.”

Thursday’s shooting comes on the heels of two separate shootings this summer that wounded two other children. Two weeks ago, a 14-month-old girl, a pregnant 19-year-old woman and a 17-year-old boy were shot when a man approached a group of people as they stood outside a parked car, fired repeatedly and then ran. And in June, a 4-year-old boy was shot along with two adults as they sat in a car.

Babies should be free from gun violence in their neighborhoods.

There is new information about this shooting. It turns out that the baby was shot by a relative inside of the home. From an article:

The circumstances leading to the critical wounding of a 2-month-old boy Thursday night in north Minneapolis are not as initially believed, police said late Friday morning, and they are now calling the shooting accidental.

After reinterviewing the father of the victim, police now say that the shooting occurred inside the duplex in the 2400 block of Emerson Avenue N. and that the baby’s uncle, a juvenile in his late teens, accidentally fired the shot that wounded the baby.

The juvenile fled and has yet to be located, police added. No description of the teen is being released at this time, and officers “are out looking for him now,” police spokeswoman Cyndi Barrington said shortly before noon Friday.

“Investigators believe that this was an accidental shooting, no other suspects are being sought and the public is not a risk,” police said in a statement.

When police arrived shortly after the shooting about 9 p.m., they found a man holding his wounded son. The baby had been shot in the neck.

Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.

17 shooting incidents involving kids just over the Labor Day week-end alone

The New York Times' Joe Nocera has been writing his Gun Report now since the Sandy Hook shooting last December. He took a breather but came back today with a list of the shootings just over the last Labor Day week-end. By our count there were 17 incidents involving the death or injury of children as young as 1 and as old as 17 years old. You can read about them in the report. Some of these were homicides and some accidental shootings.

Here is the beginning of the report just from last Friday:

A 1-year-old girl was fatally shot in the Central City neighborhood of New Orleans, La., Thursday night, and her 18-year-old babysitter was shot and wounded. A 3-year-old boy was grazed in the arm and a 36-year-old man was shot in the leg on a playground in the West Farms section of the Bronx., N.Y., Friday evening. A 6-year-old girl and a man were shot after an argument on a basketball court on the East End of Richmond, Va., Thursday afternoon.

A 13-year-old boy was shot and killed as he rode his bicycle home from a party in the Montbello neighborhood of Denver, Colo., Friday night. A 15-year-old was shot at Carver High School in Winston-Salem, N.C., Friday afternoon, and an 18-year-old student was arrested. A 16-year-old boy was shot during a confrontation in Covina, Calif., Friday night. A 16-year-old boy was fatally shot when a hunting rifle discharged at a friend’s house inDrain, Ore., Thursday night.

A 17-year-old boy was shot and killed in a residential neighborhood in northStockton, Calif., Friday night. A 17-year-old boy was killed in a possibly gang-related shooting in the Avalon Park neighborhood of Chicago, Ill., Thursday afternoon. 

The shooting incidents happened in 8 different states from California to Louisiana to New York to Virginia to Oregon to Illinois to North Carolina to Colorado. Some were due to access to guns by children and teens who should not be able to get their hands on guns.

As we always say on this blog- Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.

Thank you to Joe Nocera and his fellow writer Jennifer Mascia for monitoring shootings and providing this information.

1 year old New York City toddler shot in stroller

A 1 year old sitting in his stroller as his parents walked him was shot and killed by a stray bullet:

A 1-year-old boy in a stroller was fatally shot in the face as his parents pushed him across a city street, and police continued looking for the gunman Monday.

Antiq Hennis and his parents were walking across a street in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn at about 7:20 p.m. Sunday when shots were fired and the boy was hit, police said. Investigators have yet to determine who was the intended target, and no arrests have been made, police said Monday.

"I heard three to four shots. ... I saw a man with a stroller screaming: 'My baby got shot! My baby got shot,' " witness Gina Gamboa, 23, told the New York Post (bit.ly/1fsZnns).

"He was going crazy."

The boy was rushed to Brookdale University Hospital with a gunshot wound to the left side of his face, but he was declared dead when he arrived, authorities said.

Bishop Willie Billips of the Church of Faith, Hope and Charity, who knows the boy's father, told newspapers that he drove the parents to the hospital to identify the body of their only child.

"I'm furious about what I've just seen. I'm outraged," Billips told the Daily News (http://nydn.us/14c05G3 ). "A 1-year-old baby lying on the bed? It's horrible."

The boy's family could not immediately be reached.

"The family is shocked and devastated," City Councilman Charles Barron told the Daily News after talking with Antiq's parents. "The child didn't even get a chance to start his life, and now it's over."

It was at least the second case of a toddler being shot to death in a stroller this year.

In March, a woman walking home from a post office in Brunswick, Ga., with her 13-month-old son was accosted by a gunman who demanded her purse, then shot her in the leg and fired a shot at the child in his stroller after she told him she had no money, authorities said.

An 18-year-old man was convicted Friday of murder in the death of Antonio Santiago despite his attorney's attempts to cast guilt upon several others, including the child's parents.

Ohio toddler injured in shooting

An Ohio toddler has been injured in a shooting that took the life of her mother.

Photo from http://www.newsnet5.com/

From the article:

"A toddler injured in a shooting that left her 22-year-old pregnant mother dead in Brown County is "improving," the child's father said Friday.

Brittany Stykes, of Ripley, was found shot to death Wednesday evening inside a car that crashed along a stretch of U.S. Route 68.

Stykes was found inside her Jeep about a half-mile from the intersection of U.S. Route 68 and Gooselick Road before 8 p.m. She was with her 14-month-old daughter, Aubree, who received a head wound.

Shane Stykes, Aubree's father, was laying in bed with his daughter inside Cincinnati Children's Hospital Friday and told NewsChannel5’s sister station WCPO that the toddler is breathing on her own.

"I'd say she's going to be here for a while," Shane Stykes said.

Stykes and Aubree were found by Craig Labell, who pulled over and called 911 when he saw their vehicle. He initially thought Stykes had simply driven her SUV off the road and into a wooded area between Georgetown and Ripley.

"There's a Jeep off the road in the woods. Looks like somebody drove off the road into the woods and they're passed out at the wheel. Looks a like a girl, female in her 20s or 30s," he told a Brown County dispatcher.

Law enforcement officials responded to the call expecting to investigate a single-vehicle accident. But once at the scene they found Stykes slouched over the steering wheel with multiple gunshot wounds.

She had been shot at least once in the head, and was pronounced dead at the scene. Stykes was four months pregnant.

Brown County authorities said multiple bullets had been fired through the driver's side of the vehicle and passed through the passenger side.

Labell also found Aubree inside the vehicle. She was covered in blood and crying, he told the 911 operator.

"There's a baby in the car seat…The baby is bloody, but conscious,” he told the dispatcher before turning his attention back to Stykes. “I'm trying to see if the mother's breathing."

Investigators said Aubree was at least grazed by one of the bullets that contributed to the death of her mother. They said the bullet passed through Stykes, hit the driver's headrest and struck the infant in the head.

The child, who was conscious and crying at the scene, was initially transported to Southwest Regional Medical Center in Georgetown, Ohio to be treated."

8 year old Louisiana boy kills 90 year old caregiver

This case is almost too tragic. An 8 year old boy apparently intentionally shot his 90 year old caregiver:

Louisiana law enforcement officials say an 8-year-old boy intentionally shot and killed his elderly caregiver Thursday evening after playing the video game "Grand Theft Auto."

According to WAFB-TV, the shooting, which the East Feliciana Parish Sheriff's Office has called a homicide, took place in a mobile home park near Slaughter, La. The woman, who was pronounced dead at the scene, was reportedly found with a gunshot wound to the head. It is believed that the 8-year-old shot her while she was in the living room watching television.

"Although a motive for the shooting is unknown at this time, investigators have learned that the juvenile suspect was playing a video game on the Play Station III "Grand Theft Auto IV", a realistic game that has been associated with encouraging violence and awards points to players for killing people, just minutes before the homicide occurred," a statement issued by the Sheriff's Office said.

As Fox News notes, "Grand Theft Auto" is rated "M" for mature audiences and recommended for teens and adults aged 17 and older.

The woman, who has been identified as Marie Smothers, has been described as the "current caregiver" of the boy. It is, however, still unclear what her relationship was with the child. There is also conflicting information as to Smothers' age, with some news outlets identifying her as an 87-year-old woman and others indicating that she was 90.

The boy, whose identity has not been made known, has reportedly been released into the custody of his parents. According to the Advocate, the boy will likely not be charged with the crime because of his age, as dictated by Louisiana law.

Though the 8-year-old initially told investigators that the shooting was an accident, police say they believe the boy intentionally shot Smothers. But Law enforcement officials also said the child is believed to have had a "normal, loving, relationship" with the victim.

The gun used in the shooting is thought to have belonged to Smothers, according to the Advocate.

Experts have long debated -- and are still divided on -- the matter of whether or not violent video games, TV shows and movies trigger aggressive behavior in young people.

In April, a study published in the journal Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice claimed to show a link between violent video games and youth violence. That same month, however, an associate professor at Villanova University wrote that research had not found a "clear link between playing violent video games and real world violence."

Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.