Gang Unit detectives are investigating the circumstances behind an accidental shooting that left a 14-year old boy with a gunshot wound to his right shin. Fortunately, the injury is not considered life-threatening.
Last night, at about 10:40 pm, South Precinct officers responded to a report of shots fired in the 6900 Block of Carleton Avenue South. The report stated that a shot was heard and then several males were seen running through the parking lot. A short time after that, a red truck was seen leaving the area at a high rate of speed. Officers arrived and found several people inside the house. At about the same time, another officer saw the described red truck arriving at Harborview Medical Center where a 14-year-old boy had been transported with a gunshot wound to his leg.
Officers at the Carleton scene located a car behind the house. Inside the car officers located a shell casing. The car was impounded as evidence by detectives.
Gang Unit detectives spoke with the boy’s father and the boy in the Emergency Room. The boy stated that he and his friend were sitting in the car behind the house. The boy stated that his friend had a semi-automatic handgun. According to the victim, his friend kept playing with it, by racking the slide back and forth until it accidentally went off, striking the victim in the leg. After he was shot, the boy immediately ran from the car to the front of the house, yelling, at which time his father drove him to the hospital in his truck. The friend fled immediately after the shooting. Gang Unit detectives are conducting the follow up investigation.