Boy finds gun and pulls trigger: Six-year-old killed with a shot to the head
Jacksonville (Florida) - Children being killed by gun violence is a relatively common occurrence in the USA. A sad example from this week joins the statistics.
Drama at play: In Florida (USA), a nine-year-old found a gun, pulled the trigger and shot a six-year-old in the head. According to J.D. Stronko, deputy chief of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, the boy was taken to hospital but could not be saved.
According to initial investigations, the two boys were at home and an adult is believed to have been in the building with them. Whether the person knew that one of the two children was playing with a sharp weapon is still unclear and part of the investigation.
It is also necessary to find out how the nine-year-old was able to get hold of the weapon and whether the gun was properly secured. However, it can be ruled out that the fatal shot was fired deliberately.
"There are no indications that criminal violence is connected to this incident. There are also no outstanding suspects in connection with this incident," said Stronko.
Thousands of children killed and injured by firearms
It is relatively common for children in the USA to become victims of firearms. This is shown by current statistics from the"Archive on Gun Violence". So far this year, 1122 kids up to the age of 17 have been killed and 3072 injured by gun violence.
According to a report by CNN, children and young people die more often from guns than from car accidents, for example. In 2021, guns and the like would have accounted for almost 19 percent of deaths of children aged 1 to 18.
According to an analysis by the independent medium KFF, firearms are one of the four most common causes of death among children in no other comparable country such as the USA.
Most recently, in March, a three-year-old shot her one-year-old sister with an unsecured semi-automatic weapon in Texas.