WESTFIELD, Mass. – An 8-year-old boy died after accidentally shooting himself in the head while firing an Uzi submachine gun under adult supervision at a gun fair.
The boy lost control of the weapon while firing it Sunday at the Machine Gun Shoot and Firearms Expo at the Westfield Sportsman's Club, police Lt. Lawrence Vallierpratte said.
Police said the boy, Christopher Bizilj (Bah-SEAL) of Ashford, Conn., was with a certified instructor and called the death a "self-inflicted accidental shooting."
As the boy fired the Uzi, "the front end of the weapon went up with the backfire and he ended up receiving a round in his head," police Lt. Hipolito Nunez said. The boy died at a hospital.
The boy's father and older brother were also there at the time, a gun club member and school official said. Francis Mitchell, a longtime member and trustee of the club, said he was told the boy's father was supporting his son from behind when the shooting happened.
Although the death appeared to be an accident, officials were investigating.
It is legal in Massachusetts for children to fire a weapon if they have permission from a parent or legal guardian and are supervised by a properly certified and licensed instructor, Lt. Hipolito Nunez said. The name of the instructor helping the boy was not released.
The event ran in conjunction with C.O.P Firearms and Training
"It's all legal & fun — No permits or licenses required!!!!" reads the ad, posted on the club's Web site.
Messages left on answering machines for the club and the C.O.P. group were not returned Monday.
Seriously, the father, the RSO, and the owner of the range all need to be brought up on charges for negligent homicide on this one. Who in their right mind would even contemplate letting a damned EIGHT YEAR OLD child fire a damned sub-machine gun?
I was afraid of the dark when I was young. "Don't be afraid, my son," my mother would always say. "The child-eating night goblins can smell fear." Bitch... - Kreepy Kat
At that age all the boy should have been doing is squeezing the trigger. I took my kids out shooting and let my 4 year old girl shoot, but I was the one holding the gun.
tragic.
We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. - Plato
Gaz, the sheer level of irresponsibility that went into the decision making process that led to that boy's death is disturbing. I've got a couple of nephews about that age that I've been teaching to shoot when my brother drops them off for a night so him and his wife can have some "us time". Nothing fancy, I'm just teaching them basic stuff like the "FOUR RULES*" and letting them shoot a .22LR rifle. I don't let them fire anything bigger then that and told them I won't until they're 12. They're still to small to manage the recoil of anything bigger then that. Like I said, the father, the range safety officer, and the owner of the range all need to be charged with negligent homicide.
* The FOUR RULES of safe firearms handling are:
1. Treat every gun you see as if it were loaded until you visually inspected the chamber and magazine yourself.
2. Keep your finger off the trigger and outside of the trigger guard until you have a target selected, a sight picture of that target attained, and are committed to firing.
3. Never point a gun at anything you aren't willing to kill or destroy. That means unless you're sighting in a target, keep the weapon pointed at the ground or down range. Never muzzle sweep other people.
4. Be aware of both your target and what is down range of that target. A lot of cartridges can penetrate objects and still carry considerable force or if you miss they have enough velocity and momentum to travel a long way.
I was afraid of the dark when I was young. "Don't be afraid, my son," my mother would always say. "The child-eating night goblins can smell fear." Bitch... - Kreepy Kat