Boy, 15, accidently shoots, kills 13-year-old friend in Utah

[left-of-center2012]

A 13-year-old Utah boy is dead after he was accidently shot by a 15-year-old friend, police said. The teens sneaked away from their homes and met up at a church parking lot in the Salt Lake City suburb of West Jordan, said police Lt. Richard Bell.

One of the boys had brought a gun and it accidently went off early Saturday morning, killing the younger teenager.
The teen did not know the gun was loaded, he said

“It is not our belief he intended to kill his friend,” Bell said. The older boy called 911 after the shooting, terrified and wanting to help his friend, he said.

The 15-year-old was booked into a juvenile detention center on suspicion of manslaughter, but the investigation so far has shown the shooting to be a “truly unfortunate, tragic accident.” The teens names were not released.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/boy-15-accidently-shoots-kills-13-year-friend-78916931

[Walleye]

1. Oh, so gun do kill people. Tragic😥

[Diamond_Dog]

2. ++++

[Beausoleil]

4. Yup, it "went off"

Absolutely nobody's fault.

[moose65]

14. Gotta love that passive voice

"Mistakes were made...."

[Ilsa]

3. Yeah, tragic, and predictable.

Why don't their parents just give them boxes of matches, or lighters? The kids would be safer.

That 13 year old will have to live with this for the rest of his life.

[left-of-center2012]

6. "That 13 year old will have to live with this for the rest of his life'

Thread title:

"Boy, 15, accidently shoots, kills 13-year-old friend in Utah"

[Ilsa]

7. Okay, my brain switched them.

That 15 year old will have to live with this the rest of his life.

There. Fixed it for you.

[Rorey]

5. Many years ago

A co-worker's son had a birthday, and he had some friends over for a sleepover. I don't remember how old he was, but I know he was a young teen. Dad was out of town, and my co-worker decided to step out for a bit. While she was gone, her son decided to show off his dad's handgun to his friends. The story that he told was that he didn't know there was a bullet in the chamber and he tripped over a dog toy and the gun went off. One of the friends was killed.

Later my co-worker was talking about how awful it was to have the blood on the sofa. Poor her. She also told me that her husband didn't bother to come back from out of town because there was "nothing he could do anyway".

No charges were brought, and there were really no consequences for what happened. I couldn't really deal with her after that. She took no responsibility for the fact that a boy was killed in her home with a gun they owned.

[wnylib]

19. WTF is a LOADED gun doing in the vicinity of minors?

My father had hunting rifles and shotguns. He kept them up so high that even he needed a ladder to reach them. He kept the ammunition in a separate, unknown (to us) place.

If the family in the OP had a handgun for self-protection, and therefore kept it loaded, it was imperative that they keep it in a hidden place from minors, AND that they teach the kids to NEVER assume that a gun is not loaded. Maybe show the kids the gun and how to check it for bullets before putting it where they wouldn't find it.

[Rorey]

24. I always suspected that there was more to the story

I just don't get why nobody was held responsible. A kid died.

That co-worker was always a story-teller, and I never knew what to believe when she said something. I just can't associate with people like that.

[wnylib]

28. If I had been the parent of the dead kid,

I would have filed a civil suit against the parents whose gun was used for neglect that endangered the lives of minors.

[Blues Heron]

8. Part of the price we pay for our national gun hobby

inevitable collateral damage

[Initech]

9. Now back to that other pandemic that is causing so many easily prevented deaths.

[sanatanadharma]

10. Why did the one feel he ought to bring the gun?

Why did the one feel he ought to bring the gun?

He likely did not want to shoot a friend. He likely did not feel threatened and thus needing a gun.
He brought the gun because the adult world around him glorifies guns, fills TV time with guns, blood and death, and ever-better special effects of gore.

His world taught him that having a gun in hand was the most fun an adult can have short of the joy of actually shooting it.
His world told him that without a gun one is not a man; without a gun one is a victim, a zero, a beta.
His world told him the NRA is red-blood American but bleeding-heart libs are not, yet should be...

[Lonestarblue]

22. So true. Through right-wing media, we glorify violence in this country.

Given the level of anger, the feeling of privilege to do anything you damn well please because you’re white, the easy access to guns, and the lack of accountability for Republican politicians and media personalities who lie and gin up that anger on a daily basis, I wonder whether this country will be livable in even five years. Trump once described countries in Africa as hellholes, but he and his supporters are doing their best to turn the US into a hellhole.

[HAB911]

11. thoughts and prayers

[RKP5637]

12. Fucken guns and people again. So damn tragic! n/t

[patphil]

13. About 30 years ago my next door neighbor's son killed his best friend in a similar incident.

He was showing him his father's rifle, and it went off.
Similar, but fortunately non-injurious, incident with me and my best friend when we were in our teens. I was at his house, and he was playing around with his father's rifle...it went off and put a bullet hole up through their living room ceiling, and out the roof.
You just can't leave guns around with young boys. The temptation to handle them is just too great. Dozens of kids die this way every year.

[Tommymac]

25. Used to be a reputable competent organization existed to promote gun safety, can't recall it's name.

It was in the 1950's and 1960's...I remember when I was 7 or 8 getting a comic book about BB gun safety that they published.

NBBGA? NBBRA? BBRNA? RSNA? NRSA? Oh well, my memory fails me.

[liberalla]

15. If only something could be done about these "truly unfortunate, tragic accidents..."

I guess we are helpless...






I'm so tired of these "tragic accidents"

[AndyS]

16. Fun Fact:

Guns, particularly hand guns, are so ergonomically friendly that even toddlers under 4 can pick one up and instinctively know where to put a finger. Many toddlers have fingers too short to reach the trigger or are too weak to pull the trigger. Most toddler's gun injuries are self inflicted because they use their thumbs to fire the gun which necessarily turns the gun around. The gun is pointed at the child's face or chest when it goes off.

Between 40 and 50 children under 4 shoot someone every year.

It can be fixed with modern technology, called smart gun, but the gun industry blocks it.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

17. The word "accident" or "accidently" does not belong in any such reports.

There's nothing "accidental" about pointing the gun and pulling the trigger.

"Tragic" or "tragically" might be appropriate, but I'm thinking more along the lines of "inevitable".

[NQAS]

18. Thoughts and prayers

But now's not the time to discuss gun safety measures.

Accident it may have been, but the kid's parents enabled their son to get access to the gun. The should be arrested and charged with. . . something.

But, no, this is Mormon country. It's god's will. Heck of a god you got there.

[Sancho]

20. People Control, Not Gun Control

This is my generic response to gun threads where people are shot and killed by the dumb or criminal possession of guns. For the record, I grew up in the South and on military bases. I was taught about firearms as a child, and I grew up hunting, was a member of the NRA, and I still own guns. In the 70’s, I dropped out of the NRA because they become more radical and less interested in safety and training. Some personal experiences where people I know were involved in shootings caused me to realize that anyone could obtain and posses a gun no matter how illogical it was for them to have a gun. Also, easy access to more powerful guns, guns in the hands of children, and guns that weren’t secured are out of control in our society. As such, here’s what I now think ought to be the requirements to possess a gun. I’m not debating the legal language, I just think it’s the reasonable way to stop the shootings. Notice, none of this restricts the type of guns sold. This is aimed at the people who shoot others, because it’s clear that they should never have had a gun.

1.) Anyone in possession of a gun (whether they own it or not) should have a regularly renewed license. If you want to call it a permit, certificate, or something else that's fine.
2.) To get a license, you should have a background check, and be examined by a professional for emotional and mental stability appropriate for gun possession. It might be appropriate to require that examination to be accompanied by references from family, friends, employers, etc. This check is not to subject you to a mental health diagnosis, just check on your superficial and apparent gun-worthyness.
3.) To get the license, you should be required to take a safety course and pass a test appropriate to the type of gun you want to use.
4.) To get a license, you should be over 21. Under 21, you could only use a gun under direct supervision of a licensed person and after obtaining a learner’s license. Your license might be restricted if you have children or criminals or other unsafe people living in your home. (If you want to argue 18 or 25 or some other age, fine. 21 makes sense to me.)
5.) If you possess a gun, you would have to carry a liability insurance policy specifically for gun ownership - and likely you would have to provide proof of appropriate storage, security, and whatever statistical reasons that emerge that would drive the costs and ability to get insurance.
6.) You could not purchase a gun or ammunition without a license, and purchases would have a waiting period.
7.) If you possess a gun without a license, you go to jail, the gun is impounded, and a judge will have to let you go (just like a DUI).
8.) No one should carry an unsecured gun (except in a locked case, unloaded) when outside of home. Guns should be secure when transporting to a shooting event without demonstrating a special need. Their license should indicate training and special carry circumstances beyond recreational shooting (security guard, etc.). If you are carrying your gun while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, you lose your gun and license.
9.) If you buy, sell, give away, or inherit a gun, your license information should be recorded.
10.) If you accidentally discharge your gun, commit a crime, get referred by a mental health professional, are served a restraining order, etc., you should lose your license and guns until reinstated by a serious relicensing process.

Most of you know that a license is no big deal. Besides a driver’s license you need a license to fish, operate a boat, or many other activities. I realize these differ by state, but that is not a reason to let anyone without a bit of sense pack a semiautomatic weapon in public, on the roads, and in schools. I think we need to make it much harder for some people to have guns.

[Traildogbob]

21. 20 + years ago

A line in the Song from CSN. “Find the cost of Freedom, buried in the ground. Mother Earth will swallow you, lay you body down”. How many people, lots of children, are buried in the ground since that recording? Incorrect interpretation of one amendment. No end in sight. Band bang MurKKKa. Pro life, protect those children you love to pump out? Texas has the answer.
With guns and Covid managed GQP style, Mother earth gonna run out of burial sites.

[randr]

23. There are NO gun accidents

Children should not have them and anyone who would sell one to a child deserves to go to jail. They should especially be liable for any crime committed with said gun.

[Traildogbob]

26. Burial sites

We need a National cemetery, like the one for our veterans, to lay to rest all the children and innocent victims of gun fanatics. A visual of the carnage of FreeDumb, but also to help the survivors lay to test their lost loved ones and curb the financial cost forced into them. Tax hell out of NRA and fine the careless gun owners hundreds of thousands to pay for burial of the death they contribute to.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

27. In every firearms training I have ever had, going back to my teens and continuing in the military

I was told, "A gun is not a toy" and "Always assume that a gun is loaded. Even if you have unloaded it yourself, assume you made a mistake and there is a round ready to fire."

The NRA was founded with the intention of conducting firearms training in a safe and responsible manner. They seem to have forgotten this.

[Blue Owl]

29. Learning gun lessons is sometimes harsh as hell

The few times in my life I have fired a gun, I still am not sure I grasp what exactly is in my hands...

[Skittles]

30. imagine having to live your entire adult life knowing you killed a friend

I think that would be very hard indeed. So tragic and senseless.