19-month-old shot in parking lot

22-year-old Heather Wilson, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, was putting her 19-month-old son Tyson in her car when Ronald Farr,a friend of her boyfriend, shot them.  According to news reports:

Police said Wilson and Tyson were shot in the parking lot while Wilson was putting Tyson into the car. Her other child was already inside. Police believe Farr unloaded at least 11 gunshots from a close proximity. 15 shell and bullet fragment casings were found at the scene.
Wilson suffered multiple gun shot wounds. Tyson was struck in the arm.
Wilson's injuries were described as critical; however, investigators said both she and her son are expected to make a full recovery.

8-year old Iowa boy shot in head at shooting range by 5-year old sister

An 8-year old boy, David Young, was at a shooting range with his father and 5-year old sister in Cedar Falls, Iowa.  His 5-year old sister was firing a .22-caliber rifle, apparently with supervision, when David walked across the firing line.  David was shot once in the head.

From an article:

Eight-year-old David Young suffered a gunshot wound to the head Monday while taking part in target practice at the Black Hawk Park gun range. A source close to the investigation confirmed with us -- the gun was in the hands of Young's five-year-old sister....."I'll guarantee you, some of those guys who had to be there beside me last night with that little boy laying on the range, went home with a little different perspective of the importance of guns and gun safety," said [County Sheriff] Thompson.

From a follow-up article:

The boy, 8-year-old David William Young, wandered across the firing line at one of the firearm ranges at Black Hawk Park at about 5:25 p.m. while a relative was practicing with a .22-caliber rifle. 

The child was shot once in the head at close range, deputies said. 

The boy was conscious and alert after the accident, and officials first thought it was a minor injury, almost a graze, with an entrance and exit wound, said Capt. Rick Abben with the sheriff’s office. 

Later, at Covenant Medical Center, doctors discovered a lump on another part of his head and suspected the bullet fragmented, and part of the projectile went deeper than first thought, Abben said. 

Young was flown to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City and taken to the Brain Trauma Unit. His condition wasn’t available. 

Abben said he doesn’t expect any charges in the incident, but the case information will be forwarded to the county attorney’s office for review, which is standard procedure.

Kids and guns don't mix, particularly with young children, even with supervision.

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

16-year old Iowa boy dead after 15-year old friend finds gun and fires it unintentionally

Corey L. Hamilton, Jr., age 16

Two boys, 16-year old Corey L. Hamilton Jr., and his friend, 15-year old Dontavius Sharkey, found a loaded, unsecured handgun in an apartment in Des Moines, Iowa.  That's when Dontavius unintentionally fired the gun, hitting Corey in the face.  Corey later died from his wound.

Dontavius initially tried to hide the gun, but later admitted to the shooting.

From an article:

Des Moines police responded to 1444 E. Walnut St. after a report of a person being shot. Authorities found Corey L. Hamilton Jr., 16, with a gunshot wound to his head. 

Medics from the Des Moines Fire Department transported the teen to an area hospital, where he later died from the injury. 

Police interviewed several witnesses and arrested 15-year-old Dontavius Sharkey. Police said the gun used in the incident was recovered with the cooperation of the suspect. 

Friends of Hamilton told KCCI NewsChannel 8 that Hamilton was a junior at Des Moines Lincoln High School. 

As a result of the investigation, Sharkey has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and reckless use of a firearm.

Corey is described in the video as a boy who could make his classmates smile.

It is not yet known who the gun belongs to or how the boys got it.

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

13-year old Iowa boy unintentionally shot in head

13-year old Michael Wells unintentionally shot in the head while he was handling an unsecured, loaded gun, in the presence of two teen friends.

From an article:

The boy, Michael Wells, of Berwick, was visiting a friend on Sunday afternoon when the shooting occurred. 

It's unclear how he was shot, but police have reported no arrests. A 14-year-old girl and a 13-year-old boy were in the house at the time of the shooting and are considered witnesses. Their names have not been released. Police say children's parents weren't home at the time, either. 

Ankeny police say the girl called 911 after the shooting.

The article did not say how the boy got the gun.

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

13-year old Des Moines girl unintentionally shot by 16-year old boy

16-year old Christian Nico Gleason had a loaded gun in his waistline, in Des Moines, Iowa.  When he pulled the gun out, he unintentionally discharged it, hitting 13-year old Summer Munyon in the neck.  She is in serious but stable condition.

Christian initially denied shooting her, but later confessed.

From an article:

Police reports identified the wounded girl as Summer Munyon of the 3600 block of Cottage Grove Avenue. Authorities said the incident happened near a playground at an apartment complex at 3200 Indianola Ave.

Munyon and her acquaintances initially said they didn’t know who shot the girl, according to a police report. But another teen, Christian Nico Gleason, 16, then admitted he was responsible, according to the report. Gleason allegedly told officers he pulled a gun out of his waistband and it went off, hitting Munyon in the neck. Gleason, a Lincoln High School student whose address was listed as 3813 S.E. 25th Court, was taken to Polk County’s juvenile detention center on charges of carrying a weapon and discharging a firearm in the city.

When officers arrived at the scene of the shooting around 11:30 p.m. Friday, Munyon was on the ground, being helped by bystanders.

A woman who lives in a nearby apartment and heard the shot was holding a shirt to Munyon’s neck, and the girl was choking on blood, according to the police report.

An officer applied pressure to the wound and had the teen lie on her side so she could breathe easier until an ambulance arrived.

Munyon was taken to Blank Children’s Hospital, where she was listed in serious but stable condition early Saturday, according to the police report. A hospital spokeswoman said Saturday afternoon that no public information was available about the teen.

The article doesn't say how the boy came to possess the firearm.

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

20-month old injured in unintentional shooting in Des Moines

A man was trying to show how a gun worked, in Des Moines, Iowa, to a man he was trying to borrow money from using the gun a collateral, when the gun went off, passing through two walls and hitting a 20-month old playing in the back yard.

From an article:

According to police reports, someone had brought the gun over as collateral to borrow money from a family member that lived at the home in the 800 block of Granger Avenue.

The home’s resident said he didn’t want the gun, but the visitor was showing him how the firearm worked in the garage when it went off, authorities said.

The bullet apparently penetrated two walls before striking the child, who was in the backyard, in the leg. The injuries weren’t life threatening, police said.

No charges have been filed.

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17-year old Iowa boy unintentionally shot and killed by 17-year old friend

Hunter True, age 17

17-year old Hunter True and his friend, 17-year old Nicklaus Lala, were in their father's cabin in Nora Springs, Iowa, handling a loaded, unsecured .22-caliber rifle.  Lala unintentionally discharged the weapon, striking Hunter in the abdomen, killing him.

From the article:

The shooting death of Hunter True, 17, of Mason City, last month near Rudd has been ruled accidental.

Nicklaus Lala, 17, of Mason City, was handling a .22-caliber rifle that discharged, but “probable cause for filing of criminal charges does not exist,” Floyd County Attorney Normand Klemesrud said in a statement released Wednesday.

True and Lala were in a cabin at 1545 Foothill Ave. owned by Lala’s father, Jay. The incident happened about 7:45 p.m. April 22.

A bullet struck True in the lower abdomen, according to Klemesrud, and Lala called an ambulance.

True was airlifted to Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa in Mason City, where he died as a result of his injury.

The Floyd County Sheriff’s Office and Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation investigated the incident.

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

Teens in Des Moines, Iowa caught shooting pellet gun pellets at houses and people

These teens decided to have a good time with their pellet guns in Des Moines, Iowa. Unfortunately, they scared some neighbors when pointing the gun at a house and threatened kids. From the article:

At 7:19 p.m., police responded to a call at Cheatom Park, 1100 Day St., after a 13-year-old girl reported being shot in the leg by another teen boy with a pellet gun.

The victim told officers she was near the park’s playground when two teen boys, 16 and 13, approached her, and one told her, “I’m going to shoot you. I’m gonna shoot you in the head,” according to the report.

The girl was shot in her left knee by one of the teens, and both fled the scene after she called the police. Both the park shooting and the earlier shooting, “appeared to be related with the same possible suspects,” according to the report.

Both of the teens involved in the shootings have potential gang affiliations, according to the police report. None of the names of the teenagers involved in the shootings were released.

A third incident occurred at 9:20 p.m., when a woman reported that her front screen door had been shot.

Shirley Harper, 51, who lives in the 1100 block of Ascension Street, told police that she was talking to friend outside when she yelled at a group of “kids” shooting pellet guns just west of her house, according to the report. Harper said she told the group to stop shooting, but they yelled back that they would not stop.

When Harper walked into her house, someone shot at her house, hitting her front screen door.

Pellet guns can look real and can cause injuries. Sometimes people don't know the difference between a real gun and a pellet gun.

15-year old boy fires shots in Des Moines woods near homeless camp

A 15-year old boy was firing a gun in the woods, within the city limits of Des Moines.  He was with two friends, and they were firing in the vicinity of a homeless camp. 

From the article:

Police Sgt. Chris Scott said authorities weren’t sure how the teens obtained a gun. He also said it wasn’t clear why the teens were in the woods or whether they knew how close they were to a homeless camp.

“What they didn’t realize, but what they were doing, was they were putting a lot more people in a situation with the potential to get hurt or killed by not knowing where the bullets were going,” he said.

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

13-year old boy shoots mother dead with hunting rifle in Iowa after trying to sexually assault her

Shooter Noah Crooks, age 13

A 13-year old boy, Noah Crooks, used his family's .22-caliber hunting rifle to kill his mother, near Osage, Iowa.


From the article:

The child, identified as Noah Crooks, calmly called 911 at 7:31 p.m. Saturday night, saying he shot his 37-year-old mother at his home, about 9 miles west of Osage, the Des Moines Register reported. 

The boy allegedly fired a .22-caliber hunting rifle multiple times into Crooks' chest, authorities told the newspaper. 

Investigators have yet to determine a motive in the alleged murder -- the first in Mitchell County in 114 years, according to the newspaper. 

"We're at a loss," Mitchell County Sheriff Curt Younker told the newspaper. "These are good people, very responsible. It is the most heartbreaking thing I’ve ever seen."

According to another article, Noah shot his mother after first trying to sexually assault her.

There was no history of domestic abuse or criminal records associated with any Crooks family members. 

The 13-year-old boy who allegedly shot his 37-year-old mother dead with a hunting rifle is also facing 'unheard of' charges that he tried to sexually abuse her. 

Now, authorities are saying Noah Crooks also tried to sexually abuse his mother, which mental health professionals say they have never encountered among juveniles.
....
Mrs Crooks, who was listed with her husband William Crooks as the rural Osage property owners, had worked as a nurse at Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa while also studying toward her master's degree after accepted at the University of Iowa in 2009. 

On her Facebook page back in 2010, she praised her son, one of two sons according to Mrs Brahm, for his musical talents on the saxophone as well as his accomplishment in being accepted into a University of Iowa camp to learn Chinese. 

'So proud of him!' she wrote. 

She had also recently published an application on her page reading: 'Click "like" if you love your son!'

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

4-year old boy finds loaded gun and shoots father in leg

A 4-year old boy got hold of his father's loaded gun in the father's truck and shot his father in the leg, in Mason City Iowa.  The father is a concealed carry permit holder.

From the article:

A Mason City man is being treated for a gunshot wound to the knee after his 4-year-old son picked up a handgun and it fired. 

Police say 29-year-old Christopher Upenieks (OOP-in-icks) was accidentally shot Monday afternoon when the boy found the unsecured weapon in his dad's truck, picked it up and it fired. 

Upenieks was in his truck when police arrived. He was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Police say he had a valid permit to carry a gun.

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

UPDATE (5/28/12):  The man got off with just a fine.  From a follow-up article:

The Mason City Globe Gazette reports that 29-year-old Christopher Upenieks had pleaded guilty to misdemeanor child endangerment after prosecutors agreed to drop a charge of allowing a minor access to a loaded firearm.

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14-year old boy killed outside a teen club in Davenport, Iowa

14-year old Damien Howard, from Davenport, Iowa, was visiting the G5 Teen Night Club in Rock Island when, around midnight Sunday night, he was shot in the head, later dying at the hospital.

From the article:

Howard's cousin, Denise Cook says, "He was at a club and we got a phone call and said he got shot. Last night he was in good condition, but this morning it went bad."

Howard's aunt, Shavanity Howard says she doesn't understand if her eighth-grade nephew was the target or why.

"He's got sisters and brothers they're going to grow up and say 'Man where's my older brother?'"

Damien Howard is the fifth member of his extended family to die from gun violence.

"It really needs to stop cause we don't need any more dead family members. We need for them to see another family reunion," says Kiesha Howard, Damien's aunt.

The family says it's an ongoing Davenport-Rock Island feud.

There was another, related, shooting that night where another person was wounded, but no specifics were given.

10-year old child in Iowa accidentally shoots and kills an adult

A 10-year old child in Dundee, Iowa, handled an unsecured, loaded gun that belonged to another family member.

In an apparent accident, the gun went off, killing a 41-year old woman in the house, Amy Hettinger.

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

13-year old boy shot twice in head waits three days to go to hospital

A 13-year old Cedar Rapids, Iowa, boy took out the trash on New Year's day when he heard gunshots. He went back inside, and only then realized he'd been shot in the head.

However, his mother was out of town, and he waited for her to return, three days later, before telling her and being sent to the hospital! He'd been shot twice on the left side of his head. He was treated and released.

Is this another case of celebratory gunfire hitting someone?

Bullets don't know when to stop.