Fort Worth Police Accidentally Declared a 14-Year-Old Dead

Categories: Crime

HangerAveHouseFortWorth.jpg
@JeffSmithNBC5
The Fort Worth home where a 14-year-old was shot in the face late Thursday night.
It was a chaotic scene overnight as emergency vehicles and news crews descended on the 3000 block of Hanger Avenue in Fort Worth. Details were scarce, but Fort Worth PD said that a 14-year-old boy had been shot in the face a few minutes before midnight on Thursday and that a 24-year-old was in custody.

Police still weren't sure if they bought the 24-year-old's story that he'd been showing the gun to the teen when it accidentally went off, but they made one thing very clear: the teen "died from a single gunshot wound."

Not quite. Around noon today, Fort Worth PD issued a statement upgrading him from dead to critical condition. How exactly the mixup happened they don't say, though sergeant Kelly Peel apologized for any confusion.

The teen is being treated at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. Police say the investigation is ongoing.

Send your story tips to the author, Eric Nicholson.

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22 comments
ruddski
ruddski

Dallas cops would have made sure the kid was dead before announcing anything. A couple of extra head shots to be sure.

ozonelarryb
ozonelarryb

The shooting details should be in flux till fully investigated..uh, unless it is officer involved. Then it is immediately justified - no investigation necessary. But DEAD v ALIVE., they should be able to get THAT right fairly quickly.... 'should'

jamessavik
jamessavik

Sounds like they were wishing he was dead so that he wouldn't complain.

Tim.Covington
Tim.Covington

There is no such thing as an accident involving a person injured by a firearm. It is either intentional or negligence, If you follow the basic rules of firearms safety, nobody gets hurt:

RULE I: ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED (obviously violated here)

RULE II: NEVER LET THE MUZZLE COVER ANYTHING YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO DESTROY (obviously violated here)

RULE III: KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER UNTIL YOUR SIGHTS ARE ON THE TARGET (most likely violated here)

RULE IV: BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET

SarcasmoJones
SarcasmoJones

@bvckvs This seems like an inappropriate place to force a political debate. The political affiliations of the people involved were not divulged and have nothing to do with a kid getting shot in the face. However, your characterization of Republicans as stupid, and Fort Worth as uncivilized, has revealed a very narrow thought process. 

CogitoErgoSum
CogitoErgoSum

@Tim.CovingtonThe adjective is used correctly in this instance -- if we accept the premise that the person handling the firearm did not shoot the boy intentionally.


ac·ci·den·tal

ˌaksiˈdentl/adjective
  1. 1.happening by chance, unintentionally, or unexpectedly."a verdict of accidental death"synonyms:fortuitouschanceadventitiousflukycoincidentalcasual,serendipitousrandomunexpectedunforeseenunanticipated,unlooked-forunintentionalunintendedinadvertentunplanned,unpremeditatedunthinkingunwitting"an accidental meeting"

ruddski
ruddski

New to Dallas, dude?

ruddski
ruddski

Keep in mind, sanders flunked community college math in his mid-forties and spends days "liking" YouTube vids, and of course trolling, getting banned, and dallying with lawsuits over his web activities. Of COURSE he hates Republicans, all his failures are their fault, ya know.

jml47
jml47

@bvckvs @ozonelarryb 


You are off the rails, here. This has nothing to do with your whacked out assumptions. 

ruddski
ruddski

Have your threats of violence ever gotten anyone to stop mocking and belittling you? No?!

Given your track record, I don't think anyone ever took your attempts at being a bad-ass as any more than a loser's fantasy.

Tim.Covington
Tim.Covington

@CogitoErgoSum@Tim.CovingtonNo, because he acted negligently. When an adult is handling a firearm, they are responsible for what happens with it. He was reckless in his handling of the firearm.

ruddski
ruddski

The evangelical republican(s) that deflated your tires in Dallas are probably evangelical Fort Worthians. If you stay out of that town, you'll be fine.

SarcasmoJones
SarcasmoJones

@bvckvs I'm a Democrat living in Fort Worth, almost everything you wrote is biased conjecture, and this is neither a religious nor a political topic. Stay on point if you wish your opinion to have credibility, or risk being dismissed as a troll.

bmarvel
bmarvel topcommenter

@jml47jm147 -- I've spent a fair amount of time watching detectives go about their work. While suspicion and even skepticism is a necessary part of their professional equipment, I've ever met a detective who assumed that a killing was "intentional" until he'd satisfied himself that he had thoroughly investigated. 

That's probably why you're not a detective.  

jml47
jml47

@bmarvel @Tim.Covington @CogitoErgoSum 


If I was the detective it would be "intentional" unless it could be proven it was accidental. Come on, everyone who murders someone without witnesses could claim "accidental." 

bmarvel
bmarvel topcommenter

@Tim.Covington@CogitoErgoSumTim, I understand the rhetorical point you are trying to make here. But if we can bend language to make one point, however worthy,  then what principle prevents us from bending it any old way to make any old point? Pretty soon language becomes useless, a blunt instrument useful only for badgering.  

To call this shooting an accident does not make it any less tragic or unnecessary. Most accidents are, after all, the result of negligence. The necessary distinction is intentionality. Somebody can be stupid without being willfully malicious. The law recognizes this distinction. We imprison or fine careless drivers; we do not execute them. 

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