The epidemic of guns has been plaguing the US for years now, leading to accidents that could have been avoided. In one such tragic incident, a 14-year-old girl was charged with murder for fatally shooting an 11-year-old boy in Dallas. The boy was hit by a stray bullet, the Dallas police said.
The police responded to a shooting at an apartment complex in south Dallas on Sunday at about 2 pm. While investigating the matter, they learned that a fight was going on between two girls in the parking lot of the complex.
“One juvenile suspect retrieved a handgun and shot in the direction of the female she was fighting; however, the shot struck a male juvenile bystander,” police said in a statement.
The 11-year-old boy succumbed to his injuries at the hospital.
The suspect fled the site following the incident, but was caught soon after and taken into custody. She is currently at the Henry Wade Juvenile Justice Center, police said, and a weapon has also been recovered.
The boy’s mother was with him when he was struck and is devastated to have witnessed her son being shot.
Vashunte Settles told a CNN affiliate channel that her daughter was fighting with the suspect. The 14-year-old girl took out a gun and shot in her direction. But the bullet missed her and instead hit her son, whom she has identified as De’Evan McFall.
“He was so innocent. He definitely didn’t deserve it,” Settles told KTVT. “I just wish the younger generation would stop and think before they do irrational things, because in this situation, I’m not the only one hurting.”
“Take this story and do something productive with it. Let my son not have died in vain and let this save somebody else’s child,” she said.
De’Evan’s school expressed grief at his death and in a statement said that his teachers described him as “sweet and charismatic” and “will be greatly missed by both his teachers and peers”.