A 13-year-old boy died after shooting himself in the head at Range USA Indy North, a gun range in Carmel, Indiana, and the Marion County Coroner's Office has now ruled his death a suicide. The boy died at Peyton Manning Children's Hospital at Ascension St. Vincent, according to the coroner's office.
The shooting happened at the range located at 1250 City Center Drive in Carmel, as reported by WIBC 93.1 FM. The Marion County Coroner's Office said the boy died Sunday at the children's hospital, and the office has since classified his death as a suicide.
No further details have been released about what led up to the shooting, including the exact timing of the incident or the circumstances surrounding how the firearm came to be in the boy's possession. The station's report does not identify the boy, his family, any witnesses, or include a statement from Range USA.
A Statewide Pattern Among Young People
The case lands amid troubling statewide numbers on firearm deaths among Indiana youth. Firearms were the leading cause of death among Indiana residents ages 1 to 17 in 2024, according to the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions. The same data shows Indiana's overall gun-suicide rate climbed 41% between 2015 and 2024.
Indiana ranked 17th in the nation for its overall gun-death rate in 2024, per the center's figures. The data also includes figures on gun-suicide deaths in Indiana.
State Guidance on Firearm Storage
Indiana law has pushed officials to address how firearms are kept in homes with children. Under Indiana Code 20-19-3-30.4, the Indiana Department of Education and Indiana State Police developed best practices for the safe possession and storage of a firearm in a home with a child, according to the Indiana Department of Education. It remains unclear whether any firearm-storage law was a factor in this case, and the available evidence does not establish that connection one way or another.
Anyone experiencing a suicide, mental-health or substance-use crisis is encouraged to call the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. The Indiana Crisis Text Line also offers free, 24/7 crisis counseling by texting IN to 741741, and additional resources are available at 988indiana.org.
