Oakley father cleaning his AR-15 rifle accidentally shoots 5-year-old son, police say

A five-year-old boy was recovering after being shot inside his Oakley home on Sunday after his father accidentally fired an AR-15 rifle he was in the process of cleaning, police said.

The incident happened at a home on Hemlock Court, just south of W. Cypress Road and east of Empire Avenue at about 9:25 p.m. The Oakley Police Department said in a press release that officers responded to a report that a man shot himself while cleaning his guns. On the way over, the call was updated to indicate it was actually a five-year-old boy who had been shot in the chest, police said. 

Officers arrived to find the father holding his son and applying pressure to his gunshot wound. Police said the boy was taken by helicopter to a hospital and was expected to make a full recovery after surgery.

Detectives called to the scene determined that the father had been in the process of cleaning his firearms, and when he removed an AR-15 style semi-automatic rifle from a gun case, he accidentally pulled the trigger, police said. The bullet struck his son at close range in the torso. 

The father told officers he thought the rifle was empty, police said. After obtaining a search warrant, officers removed all the firearms from the man's home, as well as other items of evidence, according to police.

"This was a very tragic event that occurred. As we have learned more about what happened, we now know the gunshot wound suffered by the five-year-old boy was a grazing wound and not a penetrating wound," Police Chief Paul Beard said in a prepared statement. "Even a graze however, from a rifle-fired bullet can cause devastating injuries. We are very thankful the injuries sustained by the boy are not worse than they are; an inch of difference of where the bullet struck the boy would have been a different, and more tragic, outcome. 

"Even though we believe this to be an awful accident, some crucial errors of negligence were made," Beard added. "Firearms should always be treated as if they are loaded and one should never put a finger on the trigger of a firearm unless there is an intent to shoot it."  

Oakley police said there didn't appear to be any intent behind the shooting, but once completed, the investigation will be sent to the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office to determine if any criminal charges will be filed.