JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Police in north Florida are trying to find out how a 9-year-old got a gun and accidentally shot and killed a 6-year-old this week.
Detectives in Jacksonville are looking into how the child got access to the weapon and whether an adult should be held criminally responsible for the little boy’s death.
Authorities say around 2:45 Monday afternoon, an adult was home. There was a gun inside. A 9-year-old got hold of it and shot and killed a 6-year-old boy.
“Terrible, it breaks my heart,” a neighbor said.
The adult was taken in for questioning. Neighbors with kids and guns in their home said this didn’t have to happen.
“Having that young of age with gun possession is a little bit scary because I said we’ve never had any incidents,” neighbor Troy Fabon said.
Neighbor Nolan Pniewski said “It’s extremely unfortunate things like those, you know, you’ve got to have that kind of stuff locked up. It’s not a toy, it’s not, it’s not something to be played with. It’s, it’s a weapon.”
Data shows 15 children have been shot so far this year in Jacksonville. Four of the shootings were fatal.
Three of them, including Monday’s, were considered accidental.
The Nationwide Children’s Hospital did a study in June showing most unintentional gun fatalities when a child shoots another child involve boys, happen at the child’s home or a friend’s home and the guns were stored loaded and unlocked.
Police are only saying this is an ongoing investigation. There was no word on any charges as of Wednesday.