13-Year-Old Shot in Sanford Home

Sanford, N.C. — A Saturday afternoon turned violent for teenaged cousins when they managed to get hold of a gun, and one boy was shot in the head.

Police said two 13-year-old boys were inside a house at 630 N. Steele St. playing video games. The cousins somehow came into contact with a gun, and it went off at about 4 p.m., police said. One of the boys was shot in the forehead.

The victim's father and the other boy's stepfather were in the back yard when the shooting happened.

Police said when they arrived the victim was unresponsive.

“You do your job the best you can, yet you try to console the parents there too,” Capt. David Smith, with the Sanford Police Department, said.

The victim was transported by helicopter to UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill. Police said the boy was from the Sanford area but did not release his name and condition.

The other 13-year-old lived at the house where the shooting occurred.

Police spent around six hours at the house investigating Saturday evening.

Using what looked to be a metal detector, officers combed through a wooded area in the backyard. Police would not say exactly what they were looking for.

No charges were filed in the incident.

8 Comments

WRAL.com welcomes your comments on this story. All comments are moderated prior to publication based on our posting guidelines. Please review them prior to posting and if your message is not approved.

VIEW ALL 8 COMMENTS

This story is closed for comments. Comments on WRAL.com news stories are accepted and moderated between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Latest Comments

Sad, another untaught child, and irresponsible parent/gun owner. I pray for both families and hope some day this world will realize how important it is to put away guns safely and teach kids till they are blue in the face about gun safety...as some gun owners need as well...I pray this injured child recovers!

sunflowerbubbles
March 3, 2008 12:33 p.m.

Parents, lock your darn guns, it's not hard!

saltygirl2
March 3, 2008 12:11 p.m.

The gun should have been locked up since more than likely the children had not been taught firearms safety, because had they been, this tragedy probably would have not happened. That being said, I was raised in a home where guns were out in the open on racks and not locked up. Our family was a hunting family, and we were taught gun safety at a very young age. My prayers and thoughts go out to the family.

71RT
March 3, 2008 11:38 a.m.

We don't need no stinking gun laws........yeah right.