UNNAMED GIRL - 3 yo (8/2014)/ Shooter: Unnamed 5 yo boy - Denver CO

Colorado Girl, 3, Shot by 5-Year-Old Boy With Handgun

one day ago

DENVER — A 3-year-old girl was shot and critically wounded by a 5-year-old boy on Monday with a handgun belonging to her mother's boyfriend. Pueblo police said that a 9-year-old was playing with a gun in the backyard of a home when he gave the firearm to the 5-year-old, who pointed it at the girl and fired, striking her once.

The girl was flown to a hospital, where she was in critical but stable condition after surgery. "When the 9-year-old was asked how he was able to manipulate the handgun, he said he learned it from video games like Black Ops," police said in a statement. The boys who handled the gun will not face charges because of their age, police said, but they would investigate how the older boy got the weapon.

The girl's mother was at the home when the shooting took place. Her boyfriend, Adrian Chavez, 22, fled and was apprehended hours later. Chavez will be charged with child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury for the gun that was left unattended, police said.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/colorado-girl-3-shot-5-year-old-boy-handgun-n172811

Girl, 3, shot on Pueblo’s North Side

BY GAYLE PEREZ, ANTHONY A. MESTAS AND JON POMPIA THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN
Published: August 4, 2014;
Last modified: August 5, 2014 04:36PM

The shooting of a 3-year-old girl at a home on the city’s North Side Monday morning has been ruled accidental by Pueblo police.

In the backyard of a home in the 3200 block of Colfax Avenue, the girl was shot in the chest at about 10:15 a.m. The victim was shot a single time, with the bullet entering and exiting without breaking any bones.

The child underwent surgery and was listed in critical condition but stable condition Monday.

The initial Pueblo police investigation indicates that a 9-year-old male child was able to get ahold of a handgun that was in the home. The 9-year-old was in the backyard of the Colfax home with other children when he manipulated the gun. The gun was then handled by a 5-year-old — gender unknown — who pointed it at the victim and pulled the trigger.

When the 9-year-old was asked by police how he was able to manipulate the handgun, he said he “learned it from video games.”

The mother of the victim — who was not identified — and her boyfriend, identified as Adrian Chavez, 22, were present at the home at the time of the incident. Chavez, who fled the scene, had a no bond warrant for failure to appear and was taken into custody around 3:15 p.m.

Police later spoke with the victim’s mother at the hospital.

Police said that due to age, the child who pulled the trigger will not be charged. But as police believe the weapon used in the shooting belonged to Chavez, he will be charged with child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury for leaving the weapon unattended.

Other parties may face criminal charges as the investigation continues.

At the scene Monday morning, a woman was seen sitting on the porch of the home, crying hysterically as three young children calmly sat next to her. The woman and children were later taken from the scene in separate police vehicles.

A neighbor working in her yard said she heard an adult female yelling and then a child screaming hysterically followed by a single gunshot that she said echoed through the usually quiet neighborhood.

“Birds started flying and I knew it was a gunshot but wasn’t sure where it had come from,” said the woman, who declined to be identified.

She said it wasn’t long after that when she heard sirens and saw a fire truck and ambulance drive up in front of the home where the shooting occurred.

Craig Jay was painting a house nearby when he heard what sounded like a large firecracker.

“We heard this loud pop and I thought it sounded like an M-80. I thought some kid blew his hand off,” Jay said. “We let it go and I went back to painting and about 10 minutes later, we heard a siren and saw a fire truck.”

Jay said he saw a lady running out of the house screaming while holding a “limp” child.

“She was screaming and they told her to take the child back in the house and they all ran in the house,” Jay said.

Jay said he later saw emergency workers take a child away on a stretcher.

Neighbors described the home where the shooting took place as “volatile.”

“There’s always screaming and yelling coming from that home,” said another neighbor who declined to be identified. “The police are no strangers to that home.”

Another neighbor said the young children are frequently seen wandering the neighborhood unattended.

“There are a lot of people in the neighborhood who take care of those children,” said a man who lived several houses away from the incident.

http://www.chieftain.com/news/crime/2783371-120/police-child-jay-girl#sthash.Z15WZVDB.dpuf