FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A handgun left unattended in a dresser drawer and getting into the wrong hands is what homicide investigators from the Fort Lauderdale Police Department are looking deeper into as they work to get answers in the death of a 7-year-old boy earlier this month.
It is now the ninth day in the investigation into how Breyson Plummer was shot as he was playing with two other children in a bedroom of a South Middle River house on a Thursday morning.
Why was the loaded gun of a family friend in a bedroom drawer where children were playing and where the kids could get access to it?
Police responded to a 911 call at 9:30 a.m. on July 2 at 1529 NW 2nd Ave. Breyson was rushed to Broward Health Medical Center in extremely critical condition, where he died the next day.
Investigators said that a bullet grazed a 5-year-old boy in the room, then struck Breyson in the head. Adults in another part of the house heard the shot, but it was too late.
Since that day, there has been a lengthy investigation into what had been going on in the house for months that prompted 73 police visits since January 1.
Neighbors had longed feared a troubling situation may happen at the house.
“That’s a problem house,” neighbor Robert Miller said.
He had called police only two nights before the boy was shot after his Ring doorbell camera captured something disturbing. He showed police surveillance video of man and a child walking out of the house, while another group was gathered in front by a car. Then, what sounds like two or three gunshots can be heard as the men near the car duck for cover.
“I showed them the video, still pictures, of what goes on there,” Miller said.
Breyson’s grandfather, Eddie Arnold, admitted he is among many people with questions. But he cautions anyone rushing to judgment. “Don’t make it look like we’re the bad people of the neighborhood. There’s a lot of things that’s been said that are not true. Please, let us get closure,” Arnold said.
Local 10 learned on Saturday at the Broward State Attorney’s Office is now involved. They are consulting with investigators from FLPD to see what, if any charges, will be filed in connection with the death of the 7-year-old boy.