Two boys wounded in accidental shootings

David Kihara

Monday, Aug. 8, 2005 | 10:40 a.m.

Two boys were wounded in separate accidental shootings less than a half-hour apart on Sunday morning in Las Vegas, Metro Police said.

Neither shooting was life-threatening and the boys are recovering, police said.

The first shooting occurred about 10:30 a.m. in a residence near Gowan Road and Torrey Pines Drive and involved a 10-year-old who was shot in both legs, said Metro spokesman Jose Montoya.

The second shooting, at 10:55 a.m., occurred at a house on the 5300 block of Via DePamla Drive near Lindell Road and Palmyra Avenue, Montoya said. In that case, a 17-year-old was shot in the leg.

That shooting involved youths playing with a handgun, police said. According to Metro, two teens were playing with a handgun on Sunday morning when the gun discharged, striking the 17-year-old who was in the house, Montoya said.

The shooting apparently was an accident, but the mother of the teen who lives at the house could face charges of abuse and neglect if the gun was hers and if she was not home at the time of the shooting, Montoya said.

Although the Metro believes the shootings were accidents, authorities may seek charges of abuse and neglect against a mother in the case involving the teen if they determine she was not home at the time of the shooting, Montoya said.

The shooting on Gowan and Torry Pines involved twin brothers who were visiting an elderly neighbor in his 80s with whom they are familiar, Montoya said.

The brothers asked to see the man's semi-automatic handgun. The weapon discharged as the elderly neighbor was removing the handgun's magazine, he said. The bullet traveled through one boy's legs but did not hit bone, Montoya said.

Detectives at the scene established that the shooting was accidental, and the man who fired the gun is not expected to be charged with a crime, Montoya said.