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.