ACCIDENTAL GUN DEATHS - Shooting incidents that took place in Shreveport, Louisiana over the past week are a tragic reminder of the dangers of unsecured firearms in the home. Three children were accidentally shot in two separate incidents resulting in one fatality. This past weekend– a young boy who found a gunshot a three-year-old girl before shooting himself and dying as a result. Caddo Parish Coroner's Office has confirmed the deceased boy was three years old. The three-year-old girl was taken to Ochsner LSU Health Shreveport with a gunshot wound to the shoulder. There were adults in the home at the time of the incident. Yesterday Shreveport’s Chief of Police Wayne Smith held a press conference to stress the need for adults to keep their firearms stored away from children.
“Restricted access, I cannot stress that enough, how important that is to restrict the access of children to where dangerous items are,” Smith said. “Keep them up high, keep them out of reach, keep them behind locked doors, keep them in a gun safe.”
Unsecured guns in the home are a major cause of accidental shootings among children and also contribute to gun violence among teens and younger adults. Chief Smith also encouraged parents and adults who own guns to consider taking gun safety courses and to have their children do the same. As to the shootings over the weekend, Chief Smith said arrests have been made. Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins took a moment to explain that adults who have unsecured firearms in the home are responsible for their guns and need to prevent them from getting in the wrong hands.
“We are going to do all that we can to keep Shreveport safe but we need you,” Perkins said. “Do what you can to lock up your weapons, keep them away from young people. Because if you don’t, you are being negligent, and you are endangering our city, you’re endangering the future of our city.”
Mayor Perkins also said he plans to propose legislation to the Shreveport City Council to provide free gun safety cables for the asking so owners can prevent their guns from falling into the wrong hands.
