Domestic Shootings by Children

Domestic Shootings By Children in Our Region

This is just a small collection of some newspaper articles related to shootings OF children BY children in the past few years:

Perhaps the greatest tragedy of gun violence is the tremendous numbers of children and youth killed or injured each year by firearms and these numbers are increasing at an alarming rate. In 1985, the number of firearm homicides for youth 19 years and younger was 1,339.{45} In 1995, it was 2,754. In 1995, guns accounted for 84% of homicides of persons 13 to 19 years of age.{46}Youth suicide also has increased. In 1985, there were 1,256 firearm suicides for youths one to 19 years of age.{47} In 1993, the first year for which this specific figure is available, this number increased to 1,460. Unintentional firearm deaths among youth 19 years of age and under totaled 551 in 1991. In the same year, a total of 5,737 youth 19 years of age and younger died by firearm homicide, suicide, unintentional shootings, and unknown circumstances.{48} On average, more than 14 youth each day are killed by gunshots. More and more young people are in possession of firearms. In 1995, 43,211 juveniles were arrested for weapons violations.{49} In 1976, 59% of murders committed by juveniles involved a gun. In 1991, that number had increased to 78%.{50} Click here to go to the source of this data http://www.gunfree.org/csgv/bsc_you.htm

Toddler shot to death, Edneyville, NC, December 9, 2001

A fatal accidental shooting occurred in this trailer Saturday in Edneyville. Neighbors say 16-month-old Emma Sherman died in the shooting. Photo by NICOLE BALL/TIMES-NEWS
By Joel Burgess
Times-News Staff Writer
December 9, 2001

EDNEYVILLE — A 16-month-old girl died following an accidental shooting Saturday at her home off North Ridge Road.

The girl, identified as Emma Sherman by neighbors, was killed after her 4-year-old sister dropped a loaded .357-caliber pistol, officials said. The gun discharged and sent a bullet through the 16-month-old’s chest. She was pronounced dead later that day at Pardee Hospital, according to Lt. Sandy Jackson of the Henderson County Sheriff’s Department.

Jackson said the gun belonged to the infant’s father.

“(The sister) said she dropped the gun and it went off. It was apparently on the top of the entertainment center,” Jackson said. “We think she got a kitchen stool and she climbed on it and got it.”

Emergency workers got the call to the mobile home at 1290 North Ridge Road shortly before noon. They tried to resuscitate the infant but had little hope she would survive after the blast from the powerful handgun, said Edneyville Assistant Fire Chief Frank Metzker.

“We went ahead and tried CPR,” he said. “We did what we could.” Metzker said he had never responded to a shooting involving a child before.

The district attorney’s office will consider whether to press any charges after deputies finish an investigation, Jackson said. Because the investigation is ongoing, he would not release the name of the father, who he said made the phone call after the shooting.

Neighbors, however, said the parents are David and Candy Sherman.

Neighbor Vera Galloway said the Shermans had three girls — 10 years old, 4 years old and 16 months old — and that her two children sometimes played with them.

The incident broke her heart and infuriated her, she said.

“I want to cry for Emma and I am so mad I want to spit nails,” Galloway, 30, said. “I walked down and saw them carrying the baby out on a stretcher, and I started praying for her.” She believed Candy Sherman was not in the home at the time of the shooting, but later heard her crying. Galloway said she was relieved there was not a gun in her own house.

Jeff Galloway, Vera’s husband, said David Sherman had indicated to him that he could sell him a pistol.

Neighbor Megan Bullock, 23, said the incident made her fear for her own son.

“My son’s 5 years old. He could have been playing with her when the gun went off,” she said.

Landlord Marion Nix, who lives nearby, described the family as “good people” and said they had been living in the mobile home park for a couple of years and that their children played in the park. He had never heard a gunshot before from their home.

The last shooting involving a child in the county took place three or four years ago on Orchard Road, Jackson said.

October 15, 1999: Nashua N. H. For Months Liam Youens cried into the silence of the World Wide Web, describing his loneliness, suicidal fantasies and vacillating love and hate for a former classmate. But no one heard him. His web site was filled with tirades in which he hatched plans for a shooting rampage at his former high school, plotted to kill another former classmate, and described his favorite weapon, an AR-15 assault rifle. But no one listened. "Who am I?" the 21 year old asked at the start of his web page. "Well if I had 20 people buried in my back yard my neighbors would have described me as 'Quiet, basically kept to himself' ". On October 15, Youens broke the silence. He drove his mother's car to the Nashua office where 20 year old Amy Boyer worked as a dental assistant. He parked next to her car and waited, just as he had written that he would. Just as he had practiced many times becore. Boyer got in her car around 4:30 pm. Before she could drive off, Youens shot her repeatedly with his Glock 9mm semiautomatic handgun. He then killed himself. (from the Associated Press, Sunday December 5, 1999)

May 30, 1999: Chattanooga Tenn. A girl who found a loaded, sawed-off shotgun on her 10th birthday died in a blast of buckshot after struggling with her 11 year old brother when he tried to take it away. Their 8 year old cousin was critically wounded in the shooting. The accidental shooting Friday came after the girls found the 12 gauge shotgun in nearby woods and started playing with it, police spokesman Ed Buice said. The boy was physically unhurt, but was treated for anxiety and breathing problems. "He was pretty traumatized", Buice said. The owner of the gun was charged with criminally negligent homicide, reckless endangerment, and aggravated assault.

April 27, 1999, Tacoma WA: TACOMA 18-YEAR-OLD GETS 9-YEAR SENTENCE IN APPARENTLY ACCIDENTAL SHOOTING DEATH / 16-YEAR-OLD WAS KILLED WHEN GUN DISCHARGED IN APARTMENT
Summary: A Tacoma teen pleaded guilty Monday to manslaughter and unlawful firearms possession in connection with the shooting death of a 16-year-old friend last July. Brandon Lee Wong, 18, pleaded guilty in exchange for prosecutors dropping a second-degree murder charge in the July 31 slaying of Kory Edward Ellis. Wong had been scheduled to go to trial Monday.
Source: The News Tribune Tacoma, WA

February 27, 1999, Hendersonville, NC: Mother charged after child wounds friend with rifle
Summary: HENDERSONVILLE -- The mother of a 6-year-old who accidentally shot a playmate has been charged with failing to keep the rifle secured from minors. Laurie Susan Higgins, 37, of Upward was arrested Thursday, said Lt. Vicci Bane of the Henderson County Sheriff's Department. Higgins was released after posting a $1,000 bond on the misdemeanor charge. Source: The News & Observer Raleigh, NC

January 25, 1999, Jacksonville, FL: Accidental shooting kills boy, 6
Summary: A 6-year-old Jacksonville boy was accidentally shot and killed by his 7-year-old cousin around 4:30 p.m. yesterday, police said. The two boys were playing video games in the bedroom of 25-year-old cousin George Shalley while visiting their aunt's house in the 3000 block of San Jose Boulevard, said Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Sgt. Scott McLeod. Source: The Florida Times-Union

December 10, 1998, Carlinville IL: Boy's fatal shooting ruled an accident
Summary: A Sangamon County coroner's jury Wednesday ruled as accidental the death of a 5-year-old Carlinville boy believed to have shot himself in the head. In the wake of the tragedy, the state Department of Children and Family Services ordered Dylan Drake's parents to remove all guns from their mobile home, which they did, authorities said. Illinois State Police special agent Marty Milkovich told the coroner's jury that the agency will close the case as an accidental shooting, and Macoupin County authorities do not plan to seek criminal charges. Investigators believe Dylan's parents inadvertantly left the gun cabinet in their bedroom unlocked on Nov. 23. Source: The State Journal-Register Springfield, IL

November 30, 1998, St. Petersburg, FL: Pasco boy dies from accidental shooting.
Summary: An 11-year-old Land O'Lakes boy died Sunday afternoon from a head wound he received as he and his brother struggled with a gun at his home Saturday night, officials said. Matthew Adam Reid, a student at Pasco Middle School, died at 2:40 p.m. Sunday, surrounded by family members in the pediatric intensive care ward at St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa.
Source: St. Petersburg Times

November 25, 1998, Oak Creek, WI: Boy, 14, kept in juvenile system in accidental shooting of brother Teen treatable, judge says; testimony details rough childhood, access to guns
Summary: A 14-year-old Oak Creek boy accused of fatally shooting his 11-year-old brother learned from his mother how to load a firearm when he was 7 years old, Milwaukee County Children's Court testimony revealed Tuesday. Children's Court Judge Michael J. Dwyer refused Tuesday to waive the teenager into adult court. "What we have is a troubled kid who the professionals say is capable of treatment" that can be obtained in a juvenile correctional facility, Dwyer noted.
Source: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

October 10, 1998: TEEN KILLED IN ACCIDENTAL SHOOTING. Summary: A 15-year-old boy was killed Friday afternoon when he accidentally shot himself in the head, Shoshone County Sheriff's deputies said. The teenager was scratching his head with the gun when it went off, his brother told deputies. Source: The Spokesman Review

September 24, 1998, St. Louis: PROSECUTORS DROP CHARGES AGAINST TEEN IN ACCIDENTAL SHOOTING
Summary: The St. Charles County prosecuting attorney's office has dropped its case against William Jason Shearer, 17, from St. Charles County, who accidentally shot his best friend in June. Shearer was charged with second-degree assault, which carries a penalty ranging from one year in the county jail, or two to seven years in a state prison. Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

August 19, 1998, Milwaukee, WI: 14-year-old girl charged in fatal shooting Teen says victim goaded her and she didn't think the gun was real
Summary: A 14-year-old girl accused of putting a gun in the mouth of Reginald Harris Jr.,14, and shooting him was charged Tuesday with second-degree reckless homicide while armed. Children's Court Judge Michael J. Dwyer ordered the girl to remain in secure detention on the felony charge. She also was charged with possession of a dangerous weapon by a child, a misdemeanor. Harris, known as "Junior," died Saturday from a gunshot wound to the head and mouth. The shooting occurred in a house in the 2400 block of N. 20th St. Also in the room at the time of the shooting were two girls, ages 10 and 11.
Source: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

August 18, 1998: Spokane WA: 14-YEAR-OLD GIRL KILLED IN ACCIDENTAL SHOOTING SISTERS PLAYING WITH PISTOL AT HOME; POLICE INVESTIGATING
Summary: An 11-year-old Spokane girl may have accidentally shot her teenage sister to death on Monday with one of their father's guns, police said. The shooting took place just after 12:30 p.m. inside the family home in the 9900 block of North Arrowhead in Spokane's Indian Trail neighborhood. Source: The Spokesman Review

August 4, 1998, Spokane WA: ACCIDENTAL SHOOTING KILLS 13-YEAR-OLD / BONNEY LAKE GIRL SHOT WHEN BROTHER, 15, WAS CHECKING GUN
Summary: A 13-year-old girl died Monday night after her brother accidentally shot her in the head. The Bonney Lake area girl died about six hours after the handgun discharged while the brother was trying to make sure it wasn't loaded. Source: The News Tribune Tacoma, WA

June 6, 1998, St Louis: MANCHESTER BOY, 11, IS CHARGED IN ACCIDENTAL SHOOTING OF TOT
Summary: The victim's parents don't seek retribution. "There's already been one loss - we don't need two boy lost." Even as Mark and Sonya Mahan on Friday mourned the death of their 3-year-old son, Mark, in an accidental shooting, their thoughts and prayers were with the 11-year-old boy who fired the fatal shot. Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

June 4, 1998: Tacoma WA: A 15-year-old Tacoma boy accidentally shot with a gun he is accused of stealing continues to improve. The boy was in satisfactory condition Wednesday at Mary Bridge Children' s Hospital and Medical Center, a spokesman said. His condition was critical when he was admitted after Sunday's shooting. Tacoma police say another teen admitted shooting his friend but said it was an accident. The other teen, also 15, is being held in Remann Hall. He faces charges of burglary and third-degree assault. Source: The News Tribune Tacoma, WA

May 20, 1998, Greensboro NC: SHOOTING OF 5-YEAR-OLD ACCIDENTAL, POLICE SAY
Summary: A dangerous mix of a preschooler, a first-grader and a room full of firearms and ammunition led to the accidental shooting death of a 5-year-old boy, Johnston County authorities said. Investigators say Linwood Martin and his 6-year-old brother were playing unattended Sunday when Linwood was shot at close range in the chest. The incident occurred in the den of the Four Oaks home, where the boys lived with their mother, Melinda Martin, and her boyfriend, Donald Guin. Source: Greensboro News & Record

March 13, 1998, PA: Bittersweet homecoming - Boy, 7, shot by younger brother prepares for difficult period of emotional, physical healing
Summary: If Matthew Wagner has his way, his mom will be making spaghetti Monday. The 7-year-old Lancaster boy is coming home after spending almost three months in Hershey Medical Center recovering from an accidental shooting in his home. Source: Intelligencer Journal Lancaster, PA

January 20, 1998, Omaha NB: Gun Accident Kills Iowan, 9
Summary: A 10-year-old boy tripping over the family dog apparently led to the accidental shooting death of the boy's 9-year-old brother. According to sheriff's reports, Jacob Willroth, 9, and his brother Jonathan, 10, had a 12-gauge shotgun in the basement of their home in Defiance, Iowa, when the gun accidentally went off about 10 a.m. Sunday. Jacob was shot in the side. Source: Omaha World-Herald

January 11, 1998: Boston, MA: Teen kills twin in accidental Wareham shooting
Summary: Horseplay with a gun took a deadly turn early yesterday when a Wareham teenager shot and killed his twin brother with a handgun both thought was unloaded, police said. The 18-year-old victim, identified by friends and neighbors as Kyle St. Jacques, died at Boston Medical Center shortly after the 12:30 a.m. shooting at the Sawyer Street home of a friend. Source: Boston Herald

December 4, 1995 Bronx, NY: (Bronx Beat Online)
Former Neighbors Debate Doctor's Punishment After his 3-year-old accidentally shoots himself, Jose Pena is sentenced to teach schoolchildren about gun safety. The doctor found the gun lying among the weeds and trash at Claremont Park, where he'd gone to play handball with some friends. He picked it up and took it home, both for protection and because it seemed a
novelty. Four years later his 3-year-old son discovered it in a kitchen cabinet after climbing onto a chair. The gun
went off, fatally blasting the toddler in the chest. Police charged the father, Jose Pena, with criminally negligent homicide, endangering the welfare of a child and possessing an illegal gun. The first two charges were dropped, and last week Pena was
sentenced on a guilty plea of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail, a fine or community service. Pena will perform community sevice by giving gun safety lectures to New York City school children.

January 9, 1995 Caddo Parish, LA: "Accidental Shooting"
An accidental shooting has claimed the life of a nine year old North Caddo Parish child. Caddo Parish deputies were called to 3800 block of Greenwood/Mooringsport Road at approximately 10:53 this morning to investigate the discharge of a .12 gauge shot gun that claimed the life of nine year old Melissa Funderburk. Initial investigation revealed Melissa and a brother had been playing when the younger child picked up the shotgun and it discharged striking Melissa. Melissa was airlifted to LSU Medical Center by life air helicopter where she died.

February 3, 1994, Cleveland OH: Accidental shooting claims boy's life
Summary: Because of the dangers of the McCurdy Ave. neighborhood in which he lived, 14-year-old Keyron Jackson felt that buying a gun was the only way he could protect himself. Call and Post (Cleveland); Ethnic News Watch

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