Unbelievable. Well, unfortunately, not unbelievable:
BURKESVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Authorities in southern Kentucky say a 2-year-old girl has been accidentally shot and killed by her 5-year-old brother, who was playing with a .22-caliber rifle he received as a gift.
Kentucky State Police said the toddler was shot just after 1 p.m. CDT Tuesday in Cumberland County and was taken to a nearby hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.
Cumberland County Coroner Gary White told the Lexington Herald-Leader that the children’s mother was at home at the time.
White told the newspaper that the boy received the rifle made for youths last year and is used to shooting it. He said the gun was kept in a corner and the family didn’t realize a shell was left inside it.
White said the shooting will be ruled accidental.
Yes, you read that right. Someone gave this kid a real gun.
No criminal charges will be filed.
Now, I’m just a small town New England lawyer, and I don’t practice criminal law. That puts me at a double disadvantage, I guess, since we have this concept called “reason” up here, which makes it hard for me to understand the thought processes of the Southerner. But even in my ignorance of the criminal law, I know there’s a crime called “risk of injury to a minor”, and my reason tells me that there may be at least three people who have committed a crime here. That would be the idiot who gave the gun to this child and the parents (if they weren’t the gift givers) who allowed him to have it. For good measure we might add the corporation that manufacturers a “rifle made for youths”.
Postscript: A later article at TPM states that charges are still being considered, but it looks unlikely that there will be any charges.
In light of this shooting, I got a kick out of this story from the rational state on New York. I mean, the guy probably deserves to be charged, but what a contrast.
NEW YORK (AP) — A man who dresses up as Cookie Monster in Times Square turned down a plea deal in a New York City case accusing him of shoving a 2-year-old after his mother refused to tip him.
Osvaldo Quiroz-Lopez is charged with endangering the welfare of a child.
Maybe he should have shot the kid instead.
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