Every year, nearly 3000 children and teens die from gunfire, and nearly 14,000 are injured.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

7-year old girl shot while playing with gun with 3-year old brother; parents try to cover it up

7-year old Shariya Jackson and her 3-year old brother found a loaded, unsecured handgun in their parents' bed.  One of them discharged the gun, hitting Shariya in the back.

Attempting to cover up the shooting, the parents made the children, including Shariya, walk half a mile away to claim it was the result of a drive-by.  Probably because the step-father had a criminal record that included firearms charges.

From a write-up at the Ohh Shoot blog:
7-year-old Shariya Jackson, of Cincinnati, Ohio was shot in the back while playing with a gun with her 3-year-old brother. The children found the loaded, unlocked handgun on their parent's bed. It had been left there by Ricky Singleton, their step-father. 
After the shooting Singleton and the girl's mother, Tangie Jackson, attempted to cover up the incident. They hid the gun in a closet and made their children, including the injured Shariya, walk half a mile away from their home before calling the police. They originally told police Shariya was injured in a drive-by shooting. But police didn't buy the story. 
Shariya was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and Singleton and Jackson were arrested and charged with tampering with evidence, endangering children and obstructing official business. Singleton has a lengthy criminal record, including previous firearm charges.
(A related news article)

(another related news video)

Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Please comment. Your comment will be posted after being approved.