13-year-old boy killed, shot in face while playing with gun he and friend found

A 13-year-old Philadelphia boy who was playing with a gun with his friends has died after he was shot in the face.

Chris Mackey had found the gun with other teens in an abandoned house in the Germantown area and they assembled the weapon after finding bullets.

Thinking the gun was jammed, it’s understood a 15-year-old boy pulled the trigger and accidentally shot Mackey in the mouth.

He and a 17-year-old boy have been arrested over the shooting.

The deceased’s uncle Eddie Mackey talked to ABC 6 and said: ‘My nephew got shot in his mouth, it went through his head and hit his brain.

‘My family is grieving beyond what I could ever imagine.’

Police officers were called to the backyard at 5.20pm on Wednesday where they found Mackey lying unresponsive with a gunshot wound to his face.

He was taken to Einstein Medical Center, but was pronounced dead at 6pm.

Slyde Huntley, a friend of the 13-year-old’s father, said neighbors heard the gunshot and bolted out to see what had happened.

‘I ran back there and saw him back there,’ he told NBC Philadelphia.

‘I went to look at his dad. His dad tried to pick him up. It was gory.’

Chris Reed, 14, was among the group of friends playing on Wednesday afternoon, but did not go inside, he told Philly.com.

He waited outside and watched as his friends returned with a box containing the revolver which they put together in minutes.

With the weapon loaded, Reed said a 15-year-old put the barrel against the head of Chris Mackey, 13, and pulled the trigger, assuming it was jammed.

‘It just went off,’ the 14-year-old said.

When his friend was shot, he fell backwards and lay there frozen for a couple of seconds watching blood come from Mackey’s mouth.

The group then ran away screaming for help.

The 15-year-old who fired the gun handed himself in to officers overnight on Wednesday and was charged with involuntary manslaughter.

The 17-year-old was charged with reckless endangerment for playing with and loading the gun.

An investigation is also underway into who owns the gun used in the fatal shooting and police say whoever left it there could face charges.

City shootings involving children are not uncommon as guns continue to float around neighborhoods, said Colwin Williams, an outreach worker with violence intervention group Philadelphia CeaseFire.

“There are guns out here like you can get a pack of cigarettes,” Williams said.

Philadelphia CeaseFire planned a vigil for Thursday evening.

Williams said the vigil will memorialize the boy and open up dialogue about gun violence and young people’s tendencies to mimic what they see from adults in their neighborhoods.

‘A lot of these children are watching (adults) and emulating them, but are not realizing the magnitude of the firearm,’ he said.

Williams said he spoke with one of the boy’s relatives after the shooting.

‘This baby didn’t even have a chance to start the dream yet. Summertime’s just starting and he should be having fun at the pool or the playground,’ Williams said. ‘It’s really getting crazy out here.’

Police have not said whether any adults were at the residence when the 13-year-old was shot.

Source: The DailyMail