Boy accidentally shot in the hand

Heather Rawlyk

Thursday, July 22, 2004 | 9:40 a.m.

A 12-year-old boy was accidentally shot in the hand while playing with a gun with his cousin in a Las Vegas home Wednesday afternoon.

A woman was driving on the 3100 block of Desmond Avenue, near Flamingo and Pecos roads, when a 14-year-old boy ran out of a house and flagged her down, according to Metro Police spokesman Rick Barela.

The boy told the woman that his cousin was shot in the hand after a .22-caliber rifle fell out of a closet and accidentally went off, Barela said. The two boys were home alone when the shooting occurred, he said.

The 12-year-old was transported to University Medical Center with minor injuries, he said.

The shooting was being investigated by Metro's Abuse and Neglect Detail to determine whether it was truly accidental and whether charges will be brought against the gun's owner, Barela said.

Barela said while he has not seen a recent trend between accidental shootings and children, the summertime can sometimes prove dangerous when children are bored and left home alone.

"We have a lot of year-round schools, so it's not a big problem here," he said. "But some children that are out of school and home alone get bored -- it can be dangerous."

Damond Johnson, who lives down the street, said his "heart dropped" when he saw the crime tape strung around his neighbor's front lawn.

"I saw a young man sitting in the grass with his head down on his knees and I thought 'My Lord, someone has been hurt or killed,' " Johnson said. "I've seen those two boys running around together. I automatically thought the worst.

"Those boys and their parents are very lucky," he said. "If that gun had just gone off at a different angle, in one-half second their whole lives could have changed, just like that."