5 year old son of North Carolina law enforcement officer injures himself with father's gun

A 5 year old North Carolina boy found the service gun of his father and shot and injured himself. From an article:

A 5-year-old son of a deputy in North Carolina is recovering after he shot himself with his father’s service weapon over the weekend.

Anson County Sheriff’s office said that the boy found the handgun at around 1:15 on Saturday. One round struck the top of the child’s left ear, and he was taken to Levine’s Children’s Hospital in Charlotte.

His father was reportedly at home at the time of the shooting, but he was in another room.

WSOC reported that the deputy, who was identified as Josh Beam, was put on administrative leave. Bream is a 10-year veteran of the department, and lost his bid to be Anson County sheriff in the Democratic primary earlier this month.

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

4 year old South Carolina boy accidentally shoots himself

A 4 year old South Carolina boy found a gun in the home of his grandparents and shot himself:

Police responded to the 800 block of West Richardson Avenue about 4:30 pm after a report about a child with a gunshot wound.

Police say the child found a weapon and shot himself.

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

20 guns found in home of 3 year old Arizona boy who shot himself in March

Arizona officials have released information that 20 guns were found in the Arizona home where a 3 year old toddler shot himself in the stomach. From the article:

Detectives found 20 unsecured guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition throughout the home of the family of a 3-year-old boy who accidentally shot himself in the abdomen March 3, according to reports released last week.

The boy, who survived the shooting, was flown to a Tucson hospital where he underwent surgery.

The case is being referred to the Pima County Attorney's Office, according to a Pima County Sheriff's detective. The boy's parents, Don and Sharina Marion, have not been arrested or charged. Don Marion is the volunteer fire chief for Elephant Head Fire Department.

The boy apparently pulled a small chair up to a counter where his mother was working on a laptop computer, saw the .32-caliber semi-automatic pistol there and shot himself, according to reports. The gun was in an ankle holster with the trigger exposed “and could easily be pulled by almost anyone,” according to a report. (...) 

Sheriff's detectives obtained a search warrant for the house in Elephant Head and found 20 guns along with boxes, cans and bags of ammunition in several rooms. The weapons included shotguns, rifles, a Ruger and a Colt .45 handgun in a holster affixed to the headboard in the master bedroom. The family owns a gun safe where several weapons were found but it was not locked, according to the report. One of the couple's four children told detectives he knew the safe was not locked; another said his father “did not remember the combination to the safe.”

Most of the weapons in the house were not loaded; several had rounds in the chamber and others had rounds in magazines, according to the report.

Sharina Marion told a detective she wasn't aware that there were unsecured guns in the home and indicated she believed the gun safe was locked. The family said the pistol in the shooting was usually kept atop a kitchen cupboard, out of reach of the couple's children, and said it must have fallen.

The Marions told detectives they taught their children, ages 3, 7, 9 and 10, firearms safety, and that they knew the guns were for protection and only to be accessed in an emergency with parental approval. They said all the children had fired guns, including the 3 year old, on a "church shoot" the day before the incident with several members of their church. The toddler pulled the trigger but did not handle the gun alone, according his parents.

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

Connecticut teen and half brother shot near a school

One boy is dead and his half brother is injured in a shooting outside of a school in Hamden, Connecticut. From an article:

Two teens were shot, one killed, shortly before 9 p.m. Monday near Butler and Lilac streets, police spokesman Officer David Hartman said.

Police say officers were dispatched to the area at 8:56 p.m. and the male victims were found on a sidewalk adjacent to Lincoln Basset Elementary School. The two were taken to Yale-New Haven Hospital, where one older teen was pronounced dead at 9:28 p.m.

Sources have identified the homicide victim as Taijhon Washington, 17. The injured victim has been identified as a 16-year-old, also of Hamden. He was listed in critical condition early today.

Hamden Public Schools interim Superintendent of Schools Christopher Melillo said grief counselors have been providing services at Hamden High School and Hamden Middle School. Counselors have been sent to the middle school, Melillo said, because students there once knew the victims.

“We’re very sad about this,” Melillo said. “It does impact everyone in the community, We’re here to support the family in their time of grief and support all of the students and staff who were impacted.”

Mellio said Washington and the injured victim were half-brothers. He said though Washington was not a current student of Hamden High School, a great numbers of staff and students knew him.

“A lot of sadness right now at the school,” he said.

6 year old Florida girl injured in attempt to shoot her mother

A Florida girl with spina bifada was injured in an attempt to shoot her mother. From an article:

A felon with a gun shot into a car with children early Monday, police say.

James Brookins' bullet pierced his 23-year-old target, according to Tampa police. Then it grazed the arm of Zakayla Newsome, a 6-year-old with spina bifida.

Brookins' 5-month-old son was nearby, in the back seat.

"You don't have any respect for the law. You don't have any respect for life," Zakayla's grandmother, Zhelma Washington, 45, said later. "Your son could have been killed."

Zakayla, who has undergone about two dozen surgeries in her young life, was back in the hospital Monday.

2 Philadelphia students shot and injured in school

Two students were shot and injured in a North Philadelphia school. From an article:

The wounded boy and girl each were shot in an arm, but it was unclear whether one or two shots were fired, Ramsey said. The wounded students, believed to be 15 years old, were taken to a hospital near the school, where they were listed in stable condition, police said.

The boy who was captured lives in south Philadelphia, miles away from the school, and may have driven or taken a bus home after the shooting, Ramsey said. No gun was recovered, he said.

7 year old Connecticut boy injured by BB gun shot by local teen

BB guns can be dangerous. We have reported on this blog about injuries and even deaths by BB gun. A Connecticut teen was shooting at some younger boys and injured a 7 year old boy with a BB gun as the boy walked by on the street. From an article:

New Haven police have arrested an 18-year-old accused of shooting a 7-year-old boy with a BB gun.

Police were sent to Fair Haven just before 5 p.m. on Sunday and a group of children said they'd been on their way from a local bodega, when they heard a pop.

The 7-year-old boy said he heard something wiz by his ear, then felt a sting, police said.

The children led police to Carl Gee Jr.  and identified him as one of the two young men they said were shooting at them, police said. (...) 

Gee was arrested and charged with carrying a dangerous weapon, four counts of risk of injury to children, four counts of reckless endangerment and breach of peace and conspiracy.

Police said they are looking for his accomplice.

The victim's injury was not considered serious.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.”

Minnesota 9 year old shot by 5 year old brother with .22 rifle

It's happened again. A small child has found a loaded gun laying out in his home and shot his 9 year old sister. The family, in the home at the time, are very lucky this didn't turn out worse. From an article:

Gun advocates are issuing an urgent reminder to parents following the accidental shooting of an Oakdale girl.    

Police said her five year old brother shot her with a rifle Friday night.

Authorities believe the girl will recover but some are using this case to stress the importance of gun safety.

Jeff Byrne is a firearms safety instructor at his sporting goods store, Cabin Fever in Victoria.

He brought out a box of unspent gun shells and said, "We use this little display in our firearm safety class.

What do the shells have in common?

Byrne said, "All these shells, whether it's a shotgun shell, rifle or pistol, all came out of an unloaded firearm."

When he said 'unloaded,' he meant a firearm the owner thought was unloaded but was not.

Byrne said, "What we teach in all our firearm safety classes is you first open up and look inside of [the gun] to make sure there is nothing in there."

At Friday's shooting in a home on the 1800 block of Helena Road North in Oakdale, its unknown if the father knew a gun was loaded.

But Oakdale Police said dad and grandpa and a total of five children were home when the 5-year-old boy picked up a firearm and accidentally shot his 9-year-old sister in the upper chest.

According to Michelle Stark with Oakdale Police, as of Saturday afternoon, the girl remained in stable condition at Gillette Children's Hospital in Saint Paul, expected to recover from the gunshot wound.

Stark said the gun was a .22-caliber rifle and, "It's our understanding that a family member was repairing an item associated with the gun and it was left out."

Byrne said, "Never leave your guns unattended while you step away to grab the phone or do something else.

He said it's important to always store ammunition separate from firearms, and store guns with trigger locks or in a safe.

He said, "That way the kids don't grab them and we don't run into these situations."

Oakdale Police are investigating the shooting and looking into whether charges should be filed.

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

Children's Defense Fund releases 2013 "Protect Children Not Guns" report

Every year, the Children's Defense Fund puts together an extensive report called, "Protect Children Not Guns". The 2013 report is now out. There is a lot of good information in this report about the number of children and teens who are affected by gun deaths and injuries every year. This is a thorough report with much to study. Here are a few of the main points of the report:

Guns killed more preschoolers in one year than they did law enforcement officers in the line of duty. Ask yourself if this is really what we as Americans mean by putting our children first?

American companies manufacture enough bullets each year to fire 31 rounds into every one of our citizens. How many more mass-murders will it take to get Congress to pass sensible gun regulation?

America’s military and law enforcement agencies have four million guns. Our citizens have 310 million. Has this made our children safer?

The number of children and teens killed by guns in 2010 was nearly five times the number of U.S. soldiers killed in action that year in Iraq and Afghanistan. Shouldn’t our legislators be as concerned about the wars at home as they are about the wars overseas?

The number of children and teens killed by guns in one year would fill 134 classrooms of 20 students each. Too many children and teens are still being killed and injured by gun violence. Isn’t it time to demand more common sense ways to protect them?

— From the “We Can Do Better” Campaign, created for CDF by Fallon Worldwide

We post stories on this blog about real incidents of shootings of and by children. There are so many that we can't keep up with them. This report verifies the frequency with which children die and are injured by guns. We hope you will take the time to read it.

3 year old shot at an Arizona army post

There is not a lot of information about this shooting. A three year old was shot in a home on an Arizona army base:

A 3-year-old boy is hospitalized in stable condition after being shot in the stomach in a housing area at Fort Huachuca (wah-CHOO'-kuh).

A spokeswoman for the southern Arizona Army post says the child was shot Saturday night, but details aren't being released and the child's name hasn't been disclosed.

Tanja Linton says the incident is being investigated by Fort Huachuca law enforcement agencies.

More kids shot over the past 5 days

It's been hard to keep up with all the shootings of and by kids in the last week or so. We refer you again to Joe Nocera's Gun Report in the New York Times. In the July 10th report, Nocera reports on 2 children injured in Washington state and 2 in Virginia. In the July 11th report, more child shootings occurred. From his article:

A 1-year-old boy and a 7-month-old boy were shot on the front porch of a home in Hampton, Va., late Wednesday. The boys were with a caregiver when they were both struck in the torso. A nearby house and car were pockmarked with bullets after the shooting. Anyone with information is urged to call police.

—Wavy.com

A 4-year-old girl is in critical condition after being shot by a stray bullet while watching television in Columbia, S.C., Monday night. According to preliminary reports, shots may have been fired between a group of people on foot and a silver Dodge charger near the Colony Apartments. Police have released surveillance video of the suspects.

—Columbia Patch

Tyrese Short, 9, was killed in a drive-by shooting in St. Louis, Mo., early Wednesday. The boy was a passenger in a car with his father and two others when he was shot in the head. Officials have not released details on possible suspects.

—KSDK.com

Logan Allen, 15, died Wednesday morning after being accidentally shot Tuesday at a home in Edina, Mo. Officials say Allen and a couple of other boys were hanging out when Allen was accidentally shot in the back of the head with a .22-caliber firearm.

—HeartlandConnection.com

That's 3 injured and 2 dead in one day. States where these occurred- Missouri, South Carolina, and Virginia.

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

17 year old Chicago boy shot while standing on sidewalk

A 17 year old boy was shot on Sunday while standing on the sidewalk. From an article:

A teen was wounded in a West Garfield Park shooting early Sunday on the city’s West Side.

A 17-year-old boy was standing on the sidewalk near East Congress Parkway and South Kostner Avenue about 3:50 a.m. when he “heard shots and felt pain,” according to police News Affairs Officer Hector Alfaro.

A family member drove the boy to Loretto Hospital, where he was in “stable” condition with a gunshot wound to his right calf, Alfaro said.

Nobody was in custody Sunday morning as Area Central detectives investigated.