Boy, 13, shoots self with air rifle

Yesterday, the boy’s mother, Dianne, sat at his bedside in the San Fernando General Hospital (SFGH), thanking God her son was out of harm’s way. As she looked at him, Dianne told Newsday that her son was sorry over what happened.

“He keeps telling me ‘Mammy, I’m sorry. Mammy, I’m sorry.’ I’m just glad he is alive,” Dianne said.

She recalled that she was at work at SFGH when she received news that her son was shot. The incident occurred when her husband Emmanuel, was on his way to pick her up from work, leaving the boys home alone.

“My husband got a call from Richie who told him (Emmanuel) that Carlos got shot. My husband immediately went back home and took Carlos to hospital. He then went to the Tableland Police station to report what had happened.”

According to a police report, it was around 6.45 pm when Carlos unlocked a chain around his father’s air rifle which was attached to the bed post. He began to play with it, a police report stated.

“I still have no idea where he got the key from,” Dianne said.

The police report stated that one of the brothers ‘cracked’ the firearm and loaded a pellet into it. According to the report, Richie attempted to pull the air rifle away from him and it went off accidentally. The pellet struck Carlos in the left side of the belly.

Police said that the pellet penetrated the stomach wall. As Carlos lay on the ground bleeding, Richie contacted his father on his cell phone. The youth was taken to the Princes Town Health Centre where he was treated, then transferred to the SFGH for further treatment.

Dianne told Newsday that surgeons attempted to remove the pellet from her son’s stomach but so far they were unsuccessful. Tableland police are continuing investigations.