Photo: STEFANI REYNOLDS / AFP / Getty Images
Authorities reported that An 8-year-old Florida boy was accidentally shot when a barrel with firearms inside was set on fire.
The boy was cleaning a backyard with his grandmother and other children at the time of Monday’s incident, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said.
A barrel was filled with yard waste and then set on fire. But there were two guns under the rubble and one of them fired a shot while the boy was standing next to the barrel, according to the sheriff’s office.
The boy’s family heard two more gunshots as he was rushed to the hospital, authorities said.
The 8-year-old boy was shot in the lower leg and He was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.authorities said.
The incident “appears to be accidental and negligent,” the sheriff’s office said.
In late August, a 5-year-old Chicago boy, whose identity was withheld, died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. after finding a gun inside his home in Gary, Indiana.
A 32-year-old man is in custody after the juvenile reportedly grabbed his gun and suffered a fatal gunshot wound, Gary Police Commander Samuel Roberts said.
The man was supposedly visiting the house, and when he entered, he thought he was alone, He put down his gun and fell asleep, however, he was woken up by a loud noise.recognizing that it was the detonation of his weapon, so he believes that the child had accidentally shot himself.
He took the boy to a hospital, where he died from his injuries.
A new analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that Firearm-related child deaths in the United States reached a distressing peak in 2021.
Total, firearms claimed 4,752 young lives and surpassed the record total observed during the first year of the pandemic. This indicates that the epidemic of gun violence in the United States has worsened, according to experts.
Nearly two-thirds of deaths in 2021 were homicides, although unintentional shootings have killed many children. No matter how young the victims, pediatric gun-related deaths have left their mark on nearly every corner of the U.S.
In recent months, cases of child deaths from unintentional firearms have increased.
A few months ago, a 3-year-old boy in Florida died after shooting himself with a gun. In California, a 3-year-old boy killed his 1-year-old sister with a gun, while another 2-year-old boy in Michigan died after finding an “unsecured firearm.” This is just to mention a few cases.
So far this year, there have been at least 229 unintentional shootings by children in the US. These events have left a total of 81 dead and 156 injured, according to data analyzed by the advocacy group Everytown for Gun.
Keep reading:
- 5-year-old boy who fatally shot his 16-month-old brother in Indiana had cocaine in his blood
- Two-year-old boy fatally shot his pregnant mother in Ohio
- 7-year-old boy accidentally shot another minor in a Kentucky home