13-year old Indiana girl threatened with gun to do sex acts

A 13-year old girl was in her home in Valparaiso, Indiana, when a man who was staying in the home, Wayne Han II, came into her room and threatened her with a gun, wanting her to do sex acts.  Luckily he backed down without forcing her to do so.  She then reported the incident and he was arrested.

From an article:

Police were notified about the allegations after the purported victim, who is 13, shared the story with two friends. They then went to a middle school counselor, according to authorities. 

The girl told her friends Han came into her bedroom during the early morning hours, climbed on top of her, placed a hand over her mouth and stuck the gun to her head, according to charging information. Han reportedly told the girl he wanted to touch her sexually. 

The girl said she was allowed to go to the bathroom and then reported the incident to her mother. Han told the girl's mother he went to the bedroom because he thought the girl was having a nightmare, police said. 

The girl said when she returned home from school, Han's mother and sister were at the house and had taken Han's guns away. 

Police said they interviewed Han on Friday and he said he woke Thursday morning with suicidal thoughts. While contemplating whether to kill himself, he reportedly heard a thud in the girl's room and decided he wanted to be with her more than he wanted to die. 

He admitted to the accusations and said he decided not to molest the girl because she asked not to be touched, police said. Han reportedly told police he had propositioned the girl two months earlier.

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Washington state considers adding a child access protection law

The Washington State Legislature is considering the addition of a child access protection law, mandating safe storage of guns in homes with children, to reduce the number of shootings involving children getting their hands on unsecured firearms.

From an article:

Susie Tracy of the Washington State Medical Association said, “I think there is a lot of interest in the public in safeguarding our children, and we certainly encourage you to move forward in some manner to do that.” 

Some are pushing to require gun owners to use firearm locks and safe storage, an idea some lawmakers are already considering. 

“I’m all for using safety devices on firearms, that really ought to be much more strict,” Goodman said. 

But Brian Judy of the National Rifle Association said, “I have to ask again, why are we doing this for firearms? What’s the point?”

Obviously, the point is that, in many homes, guns are not secured away from children, and tragedies result.  But this doesn't sit well with the philosophy of the NRA that there should be no reasonable restraints of any kind with guns.

Here at the Kid Shootings blog, we have so far chronicled at least 278 unintentional shootings so far this year across the nation, most of which are due to children accessing guns.  We have also chronicled at least 131 cases where guns were taken by kids onto school property, 35 of which resulted in shootings.

As we detail on another page, Child Access Prevention (CAP) laws are common-sense legislation that require gun owners to store their weapons in such a way as to prevent access by minors without appropriate supervision.  As of 2008, 27 states and the District of Columbia had CAP laws, according to a Legal Community Against Violence February 2008 report.  At least three large cities also have CAP laws (Chicago, Cleveland, and Portland).  

• In 12 states where CAP laws had been in effect for at least one year, unintentional firearm deaths fell by 23% from 1990-94 among children under 15 years old (Cummings, 1997).
• CAP laws are correlated with reducing gun suicides among those aged 14 through 17 by 10.8%, and a reduction of 8.3% by anymethod (Webster, 2004).
• CAP laws are correlated with a reduction of non-fatal gun injuries among both children and adults by 30-40% (DeSimone, 2005).

See our CAP Law page for more relevant statistics.

Minnesota toddler taken by father with gun

A 17 month old Minnesota toddler was taken by her father who was armed with a gun. From an article:

Police say a toddler who was taken by her armed, non-custodial father in St. Louis Park has been found safe.

Authorities say the father took the 17-month-old girl from her home and assaulted the child's mother Thursday night. The woman told police he was armed with a pistol and threatened to kill the girl and himself.

4-year-old shoots self while playing with gun

A 4-year-old Dayton, Ohio boy found an unlocked, loaded gun and unintentionally shot himself in the leg.

From an article:

The grandfather was in charge of watching the boy.  He was cited on a charge of child endangerment.

Children Services was called to the home and took custody of a second child in the home.

Police said the child was removed because of the lack of supervision, but also because of the deplorable conditions found in the home.

Five boys in Texas threatened at gunpoint for pulling prank

Five boys between the ages of 9 and 14 were playing "ding dong ditch" (ringing doorbells and running away) in Deer Park, Texas, when things went very wrong.  One woman, whose doorbell they rang, is accused of chasing them with a handgun after they ran away.

From an article:

It was the second time the kids had rung the bell at the home on Wynfield on a Saturday night and run off, in a juvenile prank known as “ding dong ditch.” 

According to police, there were five boys between the ages of 9 and 14. The woman’s 14-year old daughter followed them to a park with a bat. 

Mom was not far behind. 

According to an affidavit, she allegedly told one of them he “was lucky she didn’t shoot his head off.” She allegedly told another if he ran “she would shoot him and beat up his parents.” 

The boys said she had a gun in her hand. Police said there was no indication she was on any kind of substance. 

Records show the woman is 39-year old Cherry Reyes, and she has been charged with the felony offense of aggravated assault. 

Some neighbors said they feel better knowing that. 

One unidentified woman said the boys rang her bell and ran too, but that they are good kids. 

“I didn’t even worry about it,” she said. “Because I can look out and see them in the yard, I knew they were just playing around.”

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Concealed gun found in baby carriage

Here's a new twist- hiding your concealed guns in your child's baby carriage. This New Hampshire couple thought that was a good idea, until they got caught. From an article about the incident:

The officers were investigating a report of an assault made by two men who claimed someone they knew only as "John" demanded money and hit one of them in the face with a gun when they refused, the Manchester Union-Leader reported.

The police tracked down the suspect, who turned out to be Bijoel, 28, and approached him while he was walking his daughter with Gagnon, 23, according to WBZ-TV.

When the police approached, she took control of the carriage and attempted to walk away but the trio was ultimately detained without incident, Manchester police told the station.

"Further investigation lead to the recovery of a loaded 9mm handgun from the storage area of the carriage located under the child's seat," Manchester police Lt. Maureen Tessier told MyFoxBoston. "The gun was later determined to have been stolen."

Bijoel is accused of armed robbery with a stolen handgun with bail set at $65,000 cash-only. In addition, a probable cause hearing is set for Aug. 1 to explore possible felony charges of armed robbery, theft by unauthorized taking of a firearm and felon in possession of a firearm, the Union-Leader reported.