Kentucky: Boy, 5, Accidentally Kills Sister With His Own Gun

[News_Editor]

BURKESVILLE, KENTUCKY (BNO NEWS) -- A two-year-old girl was killed in the state of Kentucky on Tuesday when her five-year-old brother accidentally shot her with a rifle he had been given as a birthday gift, local authorities said on Wednesday. It is unclear if the parents will face charges.

The incident occurred at around 1 p.m. local time on Tuesday when the five-year-old boy was playing with his .22 caliber rifle at his home in Burkesville, a rural town in Cumberland County of southern Kentucky. It happened as the mother briefly went outside while cleaning the kitchen, leaving the children unsupervised.

Trooper Billy Gregory, a Kentucky State Police spokesman, said Cumberland County dispatch received the initial 911 call at approximately 1:03 p.m. local time. "The child was transported to the Cumberland County Hospital where she was later pronounced dead by the Cumberland County coroner," he said.

An autopsy was carried out on Wednesday and the results are expected in about a week, but Coroner Gary White told the Lexington Herald-Leader that the death will be ruled accidental. "[it is] just one of those crazy accidents," he told the newspaper, identifying the 2-year-old victim as Caroline Sparks.

The weapon was supposed to be kept in a corner of the mobile home, and the mother did not realize a bullet had been left inside. Police officials said they were investigating the incident and it was not immediately clear if the parents could face charges in connection with the girl's fatal shooting.

The boy had been given the rifle as a birthday present last year, and he reportedly used it to go hunting with his father. The shooting happened in a rural community where children sometimes get their first gun when they are just a few years old, as the guns are passed from generation to generation.

The weapon involved in Tuesday's accident is known as a Crickett rifle that was designed specifically for kids. "It's a little rifle for a kid. The little boy is used to shooting the little gun," White said of the gun, that is marked under the slogan "My First Rifle." The company's website that sells it features a special "Kid's Corner" page that features photos of young children using rifles.

(Copyright 2013 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: [email protected].)

[Mosha]

What kind of idiot gives a 5 year old a gun?

[chuckd]

Here we go again.

[PREM-R]

What kind of idiot gives a 5 year old a gun?

An American, don't you know it's in the Constitution

Edited May 2, 2013 by PREM-R

[ExpatOilWorker]

Sad story, but guns don't kill, people do! <deleted>, time for the US to wake up and get serious about gun control.

[steve down under]

What kind of idiot gives a 5 year old a gun?

An American, don't you know it's in the Constitution

Damn you beat me too it

[Carib]

Give a 5 year old a rifle?? Really?? I mean REALLY ?????? Idiots.

[Ulysses G.]

Perhaps we should ban cars. They kill more people accidentally than guns.

[PREM-R]

Perhaps we should ban cars. They kill more people accidentally than guns.

Especially in the hands of 5 year old boys

[thaicbr]

Perhaps we should ban cars. They kill more people accidentally than guns.

But that's why you have driving tests and licensing to try and stop that.. A 5 year old can get a gun license in Kentucky? And he obviously didn't get the correct training!

RIP little girl.

Sent from my i-mobile i-STYLE Q6

[Chicog]

It's OK though, the mother said it was "God's will".

So no arguing with that then.

[Mosha]

The NRA will no doubt argue if the girl had a gun she would have been able to defend herself.

[ad61]

The NRA will no doubt argue if the girl had a gun she would have been able to defend herself.

[Mosha]

It's OK though, the mother said it was "God's will".

So no arguing with that then.

Actually it was Darwinism at work

[Steely Dan]

Perhaps we should ban cars. They kill more people accidentally than guns.

What about the lawnmower? The U.S is right up there in the league of lawnmower related deaths.

[Maestro]

"just one of those crazy accidents", the coroner said. I bet, though, that the rifle was not given to the kid by accident.

[sonos99]

"The weapon involved in Tuesday's accident is known as a Crickett rifle that was designed specifically for kids. "It's a little rifle for a kid. The little boy is used to shooting the little gun," White said of the gun, that is marked under the slogan "My First Rifle." The company's website that sells it features a special "Kid's Corner" page that features photos of young children using rifles."

Guns for kids ! Unbelievable

Guns are not toys !

[Maestro]

Perhaps we should ban cars. They kill more people accidentally than guns.

I don't know to what extent US laws restrict a person's unalienable right to the pursuit of happiness. Would it be a violation of any law in the USA to give a 5-year-old child the keys to an automobile and send him out on the street with it?

[Mosha]

Actually it's worse, they gave the gun to a 4 year old.

[bdenner]

Perhaps we should ban cars. They kill more people accidentally than guns.

That is the most ridiculous statement I have read on this forum all day!!

[Tywais]

Perhaps we should ban cars. They kill more people accidentally than guns.

I don't know to what extent US laws restrict a person's unalienable right to the pursuit of happiness. Would it be a violation of any law in the USA to give a 5-year-old child the keys to an automobile and send him out on the street with it?

You have to be licensed to drive a car and minimum age so that would be illegal. However in most/many states owning a rifle (not pistol) does not require a license or registration.

[Credo]

It still requires a background check.

[GentlemanJim]

Perhaps we should ban cars. They kill more people accidentally than guns.

Perhaps we should ban cars. They kill more people accidentally than guns.

What about the lawnmower? The U.S is right up there in the league of lawnmower related deaths.

You do all intelligent Americans a disservice, you are defending the indefensible, simply because you believe it's 'American'. A 5 year old with a weapon that had not been cleared by the parents, and a weapon that was not stored in a secure area. Perhaps it will be 'God's will' that sees the 5 year old taken off the parents, and them doing a fully justified lengthy jail term.

[Credo]

You can rest assured that the parents will be prosecuted. The charge, at a minimum, will be child endangerment. The child, or other children in the family, will be removed from their custody.

[Mosha]

Too late they already passed on the stupid gene to the son.

[Credo]

A 5 year old playing with a gun does not make him stupid. It makes the parents questionable, but it hardly makes a young child stupid.

[Steely Dan]

Perhaps we should ban cars. They kill more people accidentally than guns.

>

Perhaps we should ban cars. They kill more people accidentally than guns.

What about the lawnmower? The U.S is right up there in the league of lawnmower related deaths.

You do all intelligent Americans a disservice, you are defending the indefensible, simply because you believe it's 'American'. A 5 year old with a weapon that had not been cleared by the parents, and a weapon that was not stored in a secure area. Perhaps it will be 'God's will' that sees the 5 year old taken off the parents, and them doing a fully justified lengthy jail term.

You can't legislate away stupidity. Wherever criminal stupidity occurs there are already sufficient laws to deal with such eventualities.

[geriatrickid]

Perhaps we should ban cars. They kill more people accidentally than guns.

LOL. we do not allow children to drive cars and they must take drivers ed and/or pass a test to obtain a license.

Do you see the difference?

[cheeryble]

When you are looking at whole populations you have to think statistically.

Statistically if you make guns available to idiots (ie people) there are SURE to be some accidents, some fatal (14,000 per annum, a quarter under 13yo).

It is not a maybe it is a certainty.

This makes those who enabled gun sales to kids fully culpable and guilty of child murder.

Edited May 2, 2013 by cheeryble

[Ulysses G.]

We do not allow children to drive cars, but sometimes they do it anyway and no one suggests banning driving. Those that take advantage of such rare and unfortunate accidents to push a particular agenda should be ashamed.