3 year old New York City child injured by bullet in his apartment

A 3 year old was shot in a New York City apartment building:

A 3-year-old boy was shot in the head in his Brooklyn apartment early Saturday, the police said. A man, 22, who was in the apartment at the time was being questioned by detectives on Saturday evening, the police said.

A police officer stood outside an apartment where a 3-year-old boy was shot in Brooklyn.

The boy, whose name was not released, was in critical but stable condition at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell hospital. His mother was not home at the time, and he had been under the care of a female baby sitter, according to the police.

The shooting occurred around 3:30 a.m. at 520 East 21st Street in Ditmas Park. The bullet entered the left side of the boy’s head and exited through the back.

Investigators were still trying to determine the circumstances surrounding the shooting, and no arrests had been made by Saturday afternoon.

“It must have been an accident,” said Devon Reyes, 35, a friend of the man in the apartment.

Residents of the building identified the mother as Nichelle Edwards. Sean Gomez, 50, a neighbor and friend of the family, said the boy had been mauled by a pit bull this summer; family friends said he was still recovering from his injuries when he was shot.

“That 3-year-old suffered more than any adult suffers in his whole life,” a family friend who declined to give his name said.

In 2006, Ms. Edwards was herself wounded in the hand and briefly hospitalized in a shooting at the building that killed a 34-year-old man.

Neighbors said the boy was playful and energetic. He was often seen in front of the building, yelling and running around with other children from the block.

“He talks to everybody,” said Shenice Toussaint, 22, a building resident. “It’s sad. I pray for the mother. It’s mind-boggling.”

Family friends described a small boy who had lived a difficult life.

“He was mauled by a dog, born premature and then shot in the head,” Mr. Gomez said.

Mr. Reyes said the boy “doesn’t deserve all that’s come to him.”

Indiana man and baby shot at in their car by another motorist

A man was driving in Fort Wayne, Indiana, with his baby in the back seat when another car pulled alongside, with three men in it.  The men opened fire on the man's car, hitting it just a foot away from the baby.  

Luckily, no one was injured.  The shooters were eventually captured.

From an article:

The driver told a NewsChannel 15 photographer that he was sitting in his car with his baby when another car pulled up and someone inside opened fire. The man and his child did not appear to be injured. According to NewsChannel 15 crew on the scene, the baby appeared to be three to six months old. 

"They hit the side that my son was on and the bullet was like about a foot from hitting his door," the driver said. 

It is not completely clear where the actual shooting took place, but the man who said he was shot at as he was turning onto Colonial Avenue off of Anthony Blvd.  

"After the shots were fires, I tried to ram their car and tried to get away from the scene," the driver said. 

Police told WANE they saw the suspects' car in the area shortly after they responded to the shooting. A short pursuit ensued and police chased the suspects to the Twin Oaks apartment complex where the suspects' car crashed into a carport. 

Police said three people ran out of the car. All of them have been arrested.

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5-year old student brings loaded gun to Tennessee school and unintentionally fires it

A 5-year old child brought a loaded handgun to school in their backpack, in Memphis, Tennessee, taken from home, when the gun discharged.

Luckily, no one was injured.  The gun was secured by school staff.

From an article:

Memphis, Tennessee Police have confirmed that a 5-year old fired a gun in the school cafeteria just after 8:00 a.m. on Thursday morning and is in police custody. The gun, according to officials, was in the child’s backpack and discharged. 

No injuries were reported. But the police have the little kid in custody, so Memphis is safe from another gun happy thug. Why the parents aren’t in custody is yet to be determined.

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

Georgia grandfather shoots his own 2 year old grandson

There has been a tragic situation in Georgia where a grandfather shot his own young grandson in an argument with the man's son:

A 2-year-old boy was shot and killed Tuesday night, allegedly by his grandfather during an argument, Gwinnett County police said.

Deandre Vega, who would have turned 3 in a few weeks, was on the driveway of his Lilburn-area home when he was shot shortly before 10 p.m., Cpl. Jake Smith said. The alleged shooter, Luis Efrain Torres, remained at the scene and was taken into custody when officers arrived, Smith said. Officers located the gun allegedly used in the shooting.

Just after 2 a.m. Wednesday, Torres was booked into the Gwinnett County Jail, charged with murder and aggravated assault. Torres was being held without bond early Wednesday.

Investigators believe a dispute between Torres and the boy’s father, Rochell McCoy, escalated to gunfire outside a home in the 5200 block of Stafford Drive, near Indian Trail Road.

“At this time, we don’t think he intended to actually shoot that child,” Smith said. “But we do believe he was trying to shoot someone else that was here.”

Neighbors called 911 after hearing gunshots, and officers arrived to find the injured child on the driveway of the home. The boy was transported by ambulance to the hospital, but did not survive, Smith said. No other injuries were reported.

3 1/2 year old Michigan boy shoots himself with gun found in home

Another 3 year old toddler is dead in Michigan because of a gun found laying around in the home:

Police in southeastern Michigan say a 3½-year-old boy picked up a gun that a man left on a closet floor and fatally shot himself.

Dundee police Sgt. Tom Redmond says gun belonged to a man who was staying with Damon Holbrook's family.

Thirty-year-old Joshua M. Greenhill was arraigned Monday in Monroe County District Court on a charge of careless discharge of a firearm.

The shooting happened Sunday at the home, which is in Monroe County about 50 miles southwest of Detroit. Damon's father and others were home at the time.

Redmond says Greenhill was negligent by leaving the loaded gun where a child could find it.

The sergeant says Greenhill had a concealed weapon license.

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

7-year old Chicago boy shot by stray bullet

Seven-year old Tyvion Jackson had just returned from a picnic, in Chicago, and was walking on street while carrying a bicycle, when he was hit by a stray bullet under his arm and shoulder, in what may have been a gang shooting.

Luckily he will survive.  The shooter escaped, but a suspect has been captured.

From an article:

Police said a group standing on a corner down the block from the home in 4200 block of West Fifth Avenue began arguing with someone sitting in a car. Someone from the group pulled out a gun and opened fire. 

McDuffie had just made it in her house when she heard the shots. Tyvion was shot while he was helping his cousin bring her bike up some steps. 

"He just placed his arms up and said he had been shot," she said. "He heard the shots and he felt (the) shot in his arm." 

The gunman fled north. Police say they are questioning a person of interest. 

McDuffie said she became panic-stricken when she couldn't quickly find her cell phone to call 911. "My daughter had to call an ambulance," McDuffie said. 

McDuffie said doctors expect him to make a full recovery. 

Police said the shooting occurred in an area where the Four Corner Hustlers street gang has been embroiled in a conflict with several other gangs as well as feuding internally. .... 

McDuffie said she's lived in her two-story brick house for two years but Sunday night's shooting may have been the final straw. 

"Now he can't come outside," McDuffie said of Tyvion. "We have to move."

Bullets don't know when to stop.

3 Oklahoma kids shot someone because they were bored

We can hardly write about this one because it is so awful. In Oklahoma, 3 teen-aged boys decided they were bored so they shot someone on a jog past their house. From the article:

An Australian man attending an Oklahoma college on a baseball scholarship was shot and killed in what police described Monday as a random act of violence by three “bored” teenagers who decided to kill someone for the fun of it.

Christopher Lane, 22, of Melbourne, was found dead Friday while visiting the town of Duncan, where his girlfriend lives. Three boys, ages 15, 16, and 17, are in custody and face a court appearance Tuesday afternoon.

Christopher Lane, an Australian who was on a baseball scholarship at East Central University in Ada, Okla. Lane was in Duncan, Okla., visiting his girlfriend, when he was shot and killed Friday, Aug. 16, 2013.

Duncan Police Chief Danny Ford said Monday a woman called 911 after she saw Lane stagger across the road and fall to the ground in the south-central Oklahoma town of about 24,000 residents. Ford said Lane, who was staying with his girlfriend and her family in Duncan, had jogged past a home where the three boys were staying. He said the shooting appeared to be completely random.

Autopsy results are pending. Ford wouldn’t say how many times Lane was shot.

Ford said the 17-year-old has given a detailed confession to police, but that investigators have not been able to locate the murder weapon.

“They saw Christopher go by, and one of them said: ‘There’s our target,’” Ford said. “The boy who has talked to us said: ‘We were bored and didn’t have anything to do, so we decided to kill somebody.’

“They followed him in the car to that area, shot him in the back and drove off,” Ford said.

He said the district attorney is expected to file first-degree murder charges Tuesday, and all three will be arraigned at Stephens County District Court. It wasn’t known if the three will be charged as adults or as juveniles.

Sarah Harper, Lane’s girlfriend, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that the two had only returned to the United States from Australia last week.

“He didn’t deserve any of this,” Harper told the network. “It’s heartbreaking that it was such a random choice those guys made that drastically altered so many lives in the process.”

Lane attended East Central University in Ada, about 85 miles west of Duncan. He started 14 games at catcher last year and was entering his senior year.

“He was an absolute joy to coach,” baseball coach Dino Rosato said in a statement issued by the school. “Chris was an extremely well-respected teammate. ... He set a great example for all of his teammates, but more importantly for the younger players. He was a mature student-athlete who his teammates could look to for advice and support.

Ford told Oklahoma City television station KOCO that one of the teenagers said they shot Lane for “the fun of it.”

The chief told the Duncan Banner that police detained the three boys near a car and had retrieved a dismantled shotgun from the vehicle, but that Lane had been shot with another gun that had not yet been found. He said police have had “problems” with two of the three juveniles previously. He did not elaborate.

Peter Lane, the boy’s father, told Australian broadcasters there was no explanation for his son’s death.

“It is heartless and to try to understand it is a short way to insanity,” he said.

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