Detroit boy, 14, dies in an accidental shooting while making a video with friends
(CBS DETROIT) – A 14-year-old boy is killed overnight on Detroit's east side while making a music video with two of his friends.
According to Detroit police, that young boy had been homeless until December when a family friend let him and his mom stay at a house on the 16000 block of Fordham Avenue.
Around 1 a.m., the 14-year-old and his 15 and 16-year-old friends were recording the video in an upstairs bedroom.
At some point, police say a gun that was in the hands of the 16-year-old went off.
"We believe it was an accidental discharge of the weapon. The 14-year-old was struck on the left side of his body, traveled up into his armpit, and he was brought downstairs by his one friend, the 15-year-old. By the time the officers got there when medics got there, they pronounced this unfortunate young man deceased on scene," said Assistant Chief Charles Fitzgerald of the Detroit Police Department.
The gun was stolen out of a car parked in front of a home in Chesterfield Township two days ago as part of social media challenge, police said.
"They call it 'car hopping,' an individual goes into a subdivision, four kids will jump out, and they stream that all the time. They put it on their social media sites. You can Google it, YouTube it, whatever you want. You'll be able to pull it up. They jump out, and four go in, they get whatever they can, and they leave; they go on to the next car.
With yet another child killed in an accidental shooting, neighbors are saddened but not shocked.
"We can say, oh, the parents can be locked up, we need more police officers, tougher laws until people actually get tired of this until parents actually talk to their kids, be with their kids learn what's going on and social media is nothing, but it's a double-edged sword. It's good for what it's good for, and it's totally terrible for stuff like this," a neighbor who didn't want to be identified said.
"A lot of people don't make it aware to their kids that you know, it's not a game. It's not a joke, you know; guns are not toys; they're weapons of destruction," Enchanteé Whiting, another neighbor, said.
Investigators have interviewed the victim's 15-year-old friend but are still looking to speak with the 16-year-old who had the weapon in his hand.
