A boy died from what Jacksonville police are considering an accidental shooting overnight Monday, July 27.
Officers called about 10 p.m. to the 1100 block of Bacall Road near Harts Road where they located the juvenile, whose age was not provided, with a gunshot wound. Rescue personnel transported him to a hospital where he died, according to the Sheriff's Office. It's early in the investigation as detectives are still gathering information and evidence regarding the circumstances.
"However, at this time it appears to be an accident," the Sheriff's Office said.
No information was released as to who else may have been present, who fired the gun, who it belonged to or whether it was seized. The Times-Union has requested the incident report and the calls
for service to that block since Jan. 1.
Accidental shootings involving Jacksonville youth
This was at least the third accidental shooting of a youth in Jacksonville this year, according to Times-Union records.
At about 1 a.m. June 8 officers responded to a home in the 14000 block of Golden Eagle Drive off Yellow Bluff Road where a teenage girl was suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. The preliminary investigation determined the suspect and victim are known to one another, and the incident appears to be a domestic-related accident. All involved parties were cooperating with detectives, although the victim was in critical condition and unable to be interviewed at the hospital at the time. The incident report listed three boys 15 to 16 years old as witnesses and a 39-year-old woman.
Two days earlier 17-year-old Mikah Howell suffered a traumatic brain injury in what police later said was being investigated as accidental. The incident report offered little information but stated it involved a handgun in the 3400 block of East Inwood Circle near Philips Highway and Emerson Street. A GoFundMe has been set up for the family.
Scott Butler has been an editor/reporter specializing in public safety coverage for 26 years with The Florida Times-Union. He can be reached at sbutler@jacksonville.com.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville police say shooting death of boy appears to be accidental
