CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, S.C. — Two 15-year-olds were playing with a gun in Chesterfield County Sunday night when it went off, killing one of them, investigators said.
Deputies responded to a home in Mount Croghan on Airport Road, where the shooting happened. Authorities said a 15-year-old boy died, but have not released his identity at this point.
Channel 9′s Tina Terry learned a teenage girl accused of pulling the trigger is now in custody. She is being held at a juvenile holding facility in Columbia.
“It’s a sad thing. It’s a really sad thing,” said former neighbor Cindy Torrance. “I saw them outside because we lived right beside of them up until a year ago.”
According to deputies, the teens were dating. Torrance said she would often see the teens in the neighborhood catching the school bus together.
“Looked like they were playing with a gun, handgun, and the gun went off, the safety somehow went off and fired. A round hit the 15-year-old male in the chest,” said Capt. Wayne Jordan.
Authorities said the girl’s mother was at home during the shooting and called 911, but the boy did not survive.
The girl was been charged with involuntary manslaughter.
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“Of course it’s a terrible thing. I can’t even think of what I would feel like if my son or daughter were involved,” Torrance said.
Deputies are still working to determine who the gun belonged to. They are doing an ATF check to find out who purchased it. If an adult bought the gun and failed to secure it properly, there could be even more charges.
According to the website, Everytown for Gun Safety, which collects data each year, there has been at least 108 accidental shootings by “children” in the United States so far this year. The shootings resulted in 46 people killed and 68 hurt. In 2021, there were 392 shootings, leaving 163 dead and 248 hurt.
No other details have been released.
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