A West Philadelphia community has been shaken by a tragic incident involving the fatal shooting of a 12-year-old boy, reportedly at the hands of his 14-year-old brother. The shooting occurred inside a private residence on the 800 block of Brooklyn Street, according to NBC Philadelphia. Authorities responded to the scene shortly after 9:30 p.m. yesterday.
Upon arrival, police found the young victim in his bed with a gunshot wound to the head or neck area and unresponsive. He was later pronounced dead at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. The only adult present in the house at the time of the incident was the boys' mother, who is in her late thirties. 6ABC reported that there were a total of six people in the residence, including some "very, very young children."
In the wake of this event, police are seeking to determine how the firearm, described as a semiautomatic gun, ended up in the home and who its owner is. Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small, in a statement obtained by CBS News Philadelphia, emphasized the cooperation of the teen who discharged the weapon. "The person who shot the gun is cooperating with police and was taken into custody," Small said.
Chief Inspector Small reminded the public of the importance of firearm safety measures. "It's very important that if there's a gun inside a house that you have a trigger lock, it's out inside a safe and it's kept a safe distance away," he told 6ABC. The local community and police alike are left grappling with the ramifications of this tragedy, while the authorities continue their investigation to unfold the precise circumstances of the shooting.
