An 11-year-old boy was accidentally shot dead by his younger 10-year-old brother while they were visiting their relative's house in Allentown, Pennsylvania on Tuesday, Dec. 27.
The two boys, their older brother and their parents unexpectedly stopped at a relative’s home in the 600 block of North Front Street on Tuesday, Dec. 27. The relative’s 24-year-old son, who legally owns two 9mm handguns, had them out of a lock box and was cleaning them. The 24-year-old had been recently shooting and planned to clean them, PennLive reported.
When he heard the boys arrive upstairs, he reportedly attempted to quickly hide the guns thinking that the boys might be coming down to play video games.
"When he heard the boys arrive upstairs, he attempted to quickly hide the guns, with the expectation that the boys might be coming down into the basement to play video games, as they did sometimes when they visited," DA Jim Martin said in a statement.
As predicted, the boys did go down to play video games. When they arrived, the 24-year-old cousin went upstairs to visit with the rest of the family. A short while later, the family members heard the loud sound of a gunshot and the 11-year-old boy was found to be seriously injured. He was immediately rushed to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest for treatment where he succumbed to his injuries and died.
No charges will be filed against the victim’s 10-year-old brother or his 24-year-old cousin.
"While a case can be made that the guns should have been placed into a lock box which was available, the investigation has disclosed that the owner did not want the boys to even see the guns and he made a good faith effort to hurriedly hide them," the DA says.
In a similar but unrelated incident, a two-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed himself after he found a loaded gun in his dad’s pickup truck in North Carolina, as previously reported.
The toddler, identified as Warren Bennett Oser, who was called Bennett by his family members, curiously climbed into his dad’s truck through an open door and found the loaded Smith & Wesson 40-caliber handgun in the front seat of the vehicle. He then picked up the gun and while playing with it, he accidentally shot himself in the head.
Even though Oser's parents were at home with him at the time of the incident, they were not able to prevent the tragedy from happening. He was immediately rushed to Johnson Medical Center Clayton for treatment of his gunshot wounds. However, while he was undergoing treatment, Oser died from his injuries.
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