5 year old Billings, Montana boy shot accidentally by 8 year old boy

What are 2 little boys doing with a gun unsupervised by an adult in a park in the Billings, Montana area? A 5 year old boy was found lying in the grass in a dog park by two girls passing by on their bikes. From the article:

"I just saw a boy who was covered in blood and moaning, and a girl who looked up at me bawling,” Crawford said. “I didn’t know what to think. I just tried to keep the boy calm.”

Brewer said the boy suffered a gunshot wound in the lower abdomen and it appeared that the boy had been shot at least 15 minutes before the girls found him. He was taken to St. Vincent Healthcare and underwent surgery. Police said he was in stable condition in the hospital's pediatric intensive care unit.

At about 8 p.m., authorities were able to locate the suspect, an 8-year-old boy, at his home. He was transported to the Police Department with a parent to be interviewed.

A small-caliber gun and ammunition was found at the scene, Brewer said. He doesn’t believe anyone would have heard the gunshot because that type of gun doesn’t make a loud shot.

It is unclear where the boys got the gun, Brewer said.

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

Three small children shot by mother in murder/suicide in Missouri

(left to right) Samantha (6), Kate (3), and Lauren (8) Adewunmi

A stay-at home mother in Bourbon, Montana, Christine Adewunmi, was described as very dedicated, busy, and loving toward her three daughters.  But when she and her three young daughters were found shot to death on a ranch and resort in Montana, it became clear that she had shot them and herself in a murder/suicide.

She shot each of her daughters once, fatally, and then herself.  Lauren, Samantha, and Kate were 8, 6, and 3 years old, respectively.  The father had reported them missing.

From an article (see also for a statement from the family):

A missing person's report filed by the husband and father of the victims details Christine Adewunmi's battle with mental illness. It paints a troubled mental history for the 37-year-old mother.  

Investigators say Christine shot her three girls, 8-year-old Lauren, 6-year-old Samantha, and 3-year-old Kate, before taking her own life. Their bodies were discovered Saturday at a campground outside of Bourbon, Missouri.  

The coroner says all four victims had a single gunshot to the head, from a nine millimeter handgun. The coroner believes the victims died sometime Friday afternoon, but weren't discovered until Saturday.  

It was recently that Adewunmi was battling problems with her mental health. According to a missing persons report filed by her husband Friday evening, the wife and mother had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and was dealing with depression.  

Her husband also cited two other occasions in recent weeks when Christine disappeared with the kids. It happened as recently as last Tuesday.  

In the police report, the husband and father also called his wife suicidal, and believed she had been searching for ways to kill herself on the internet.  

The husband told police he took his wife, to Mercy Hospital to be evaluated on Thursday. Christine told her sister she was planning to admit herself for treatment on Friday. 

If the mother was known to be bipolar, depressed, and suicidal, why did they have a gun in the home?

(a related video)

16-year old Montana boy shot and injured father in scuffle

Jordan Powell, age 16

16-year old Jordan Powell of Shepherd, Montana, was going out one night when his father tried to stop him, believing the boy had alcohol in his jacket pocket.  The boy resisted, and a scuffle ensued.  That's when the boy pulled out his concealed .357 Magnum revolver and shot his father in the shoulder.

Apparently it wasn't uncommon for the boy to carry this gun when he went out at night.

From the article:

Morris said Scott Powell, Jordan's father, told investigators that he and his son argued over his son's alcohol use. When Jordan Powell started to leave the house, Scott Powell assumed his son was carrying alcohol in his coat pocket. The pair scuffled on the stairway of their home on Scandia Road. Scott Powell said he was trying to grab at his son's pocket when he was shot.

Jordan Powell told investigators that he pulled the gun during the struggle to ward off his father, Morris said.

During the scuffle, Scott Powell was shot in the shoulder with a .357 Magnum revolver. The gunfire also caused powder burns to Scott Powell's neck and left cheek, Morris said.

Morris said after the hearing that the pistol belonged to Scott Powell, but both the father and son had said it was not uncommon for Jordan Powell to carry the gun at night.

Scott Powell, who was treated at a hospital and released, appeared at the hearing. Although he did not want to pursue charges, the state charged his son under domestic violence laws.

...
Interviewed after the hearing, [father] Scott Powell said the shooting was "strictly an accident. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Jordan never pulled a gun on me," Scott Powell said. "He did not point it at me."

"I had my hand inside his coat and thought (the gun) was something else. We both had our hands on it" when it discharged, Scott Powell said. "I am not afraid of my son."

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