Police say a young boy is dead after he was accidentally shot by his cousin while playing with a gun.
The shooting happened at the Montebella Apartments in the 4000 block of W. 34th Street, where police said the two 9-year-olds were toying around with the weapon when it went off.
The shooting took place just after 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
North and Homicide officers are at 4000 W. 34th on a Homicide. Initial information is a 9 year old male was accidentally shot by another 9 year old male. 202 pic.twitter.com/m5jymQwsMV
— Houston Police (@houstonpolice) January 17, 2019
Police rushed to the apartment complex and found the boy with a gunshot wound to his chest or upper arm area. He was taken to Memorial Hermann Greater Heights Hospital, but died from his injuries.
“There was some kind of interaction where they had a gun. It doesn’t appear intentional. It appears to be a tragic accident,” said Lt. Larry Crowson with HPD.
Investigators are trying to figure out who owns the gun, and how the boy’s cousin got his hands on the weapon.
The Harris County District Attorney’s office will decide whether an adult should be charged.
Children under the age of 10 cannot be held criminally responsible, police tell reporters.
This little boy is the sixth child killed in the last three weeks. On December 30, Jazmine Barnes was shot in the backseat of her mother’s car. On New Year’s Eve, Vanessa Ledezma was killed when her father allegedly drove drunk and crashed the family’s Chevy Tahoe. On January 3, three siblings, ages 5, 2 and 2 months old, were stabbed to death in their Texas City apartment.
