An 11-year-old Mississippi boy accidentally killed his nine-year-old brother with their father’s shotgun following an argument over a videogame.
Police say nine-year-old Darrious Finley had argued with his brother De-Andre over a videogame before threatening him with their father’s 12-gauge shotgun. The brothers were struggling for the weapon went it went off, killing the younger boy. “The younger brother allegedly got mad because he got beat at some video games and got the gun,” Marshall County Sheriff Kenny Dickerson said.
De-Andre initially said his brother had accidentally killed himself but later admitted the gun had gone off while they were fighting over it. “That version we can live with because it’s consistent with the evidence,” Dickerson said. He added that it was unlikely the older boy would be charged with any crime because “it appeared to be an accident.”
Dickerson said the boy’s father, who was outside at the time of the shooting, claimed he kept the shotgun unloaded in a closet, but added that the younger boy had fired it before with his father’s supervision and apparently knew how to load the gun himself.
The videogame angle is difficult to pin down; Dickerson said he wasn’t even sure what game the boys were playing prior to the fight. But it’s interesting to note that despite the more obvious aggravating factors involved in the case, like the fact that an unsecured shotgun and ammunition were left lying around the house, it’s videogames that get the attention in the headlines.
Source: Yahoo! News, with thanks to The Shade for the tip.
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Published: Jun 10, 2009 02:58 pm