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8 year old shoots 5 year old brother to death

U

UFOfreak

Senior member
04:35 PM CST on Sunday, December 3, 2006

WCNC.com

GASTONIA, NC -- A five-year-old boy has died after being shot in the head Sunday morning in Gastonia. Police said the boy?s eight-year-old brother found their parents? .25-caliber handgun, and shot his sibling, Matthew Dwyer, 5.

Investigators said the boys? mother was getting dressed in their Linwood Road home when the shooting took place in their hallway bathroom at 7:49 a.m. According to the police report, the boys found the gun by the mother?s bed. She heard the shot, and that?s when she ran to the bathroom and found that her five-year-old son had been shot.

Investigators said the gun was not locked.

"I've been doing this a long time, and I'll never get used to this," said Gastonia police Sgt. Jeff Clark said outside the home of Daron and Beth Dwyer.

The boy was originally supposed to be airlifted to the Charlotte hospital, but the helicopter had to turn around due to the windy weather. An ambulance transported him to CMC.

The police report identified the parents as Beth and Daron Dwyer. Family and friends are rallying around the couple. Daron Dwyer, is the choir director for First Free Will Baptist Church in Gastonia. Church members said he was in Raleigh Friday morning for seminary school and rushed back to Charlotte.

North Carolina law prohibits adults from leaving weapons where children can reach them.

Detectives have not said whether charges will be filed.

Police contacted the Department of Social Services, as required, said Gastonia Police Sgt. Rob Helton, who supervises juvenile investigations. Police left the 8-year-old in the care of relatives after talking with him.
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Wow growing up some day as a man having to look back on this in your life. I'm not sure how I could handle that. 🙁

ALOHA
 
Every parents worst nightmare...
rose.gif
🙁

When will people learn...DO NOT LEAVE LOADED WEAPONS LYING AROUND THE HOUSE WHEN THERE ARE CHILDREN AROUND!!! :|
 
Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
While I feel sorry for the family, the parents should have taught their 8-year old better firearm safety.
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No, they shouldn't have left a loaded handgun around where the kids could get at it.
 
Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
While I feel sorry for the family, the parents should have taught their 8-year old better firearm safety.
Click to expand...

No, they shouldn't have left a loaded handgun around where the kids could get at it.
Click to expand...

No kidding. You absolutely can NOT put a child's life into their own hands when it comes to something like this.
 
Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
While I feel sorry for the family, the parents should have taught their 8-year old better firearm safety.
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I'm wondering what kind of impression the kids were given on guns, when I was 8 I would have been scared shitless to touch a gun.
 
I'm sorry but that kid is an idiot. At eight years old I knew what guns were and I knew they were dangerous.
 
Originally posted by: Xyo II
Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
While I feel sorry for the family, the parents should have taught their 8-year old better firearm safety.
Click to expand...

No, they shouldn't have left a loaded handgun around where the kids could get at it.
Click to expand...

No kidding. You absolutely can NOT put a child's life into their own hands when it comes to something like this.
Click to expand...
Right, but there's nothing wrong with TRYING to give them reasoning to handle situations on their own. I agree that they shouldn't have left it out loaded like this, just that if they had taught them a bit more about it, that would have been the best solution.
 
Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo
Originally posted by: Xyo II
Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
While I feel sorry for the family, the parents should have taught their 8-year old better firearm safety.
Click to expand...

No, they shouldn't have left a loaded handgun around where the kids could get at it.
Click to expand...

No kidding. You absolutely can NOT put a child's life into their own hands when it comes to something like this.
Click to expand...
Right, but there's nothing wrong with TRYING to give them reasoning to handle situations on their own. I agree that they shouldn't have left it out loaded like this, just that if they had taught them a bit more about it, that would have been the best solution.
Click to expand...

No the best solution would be not owning a gun at all.
 
Originally posted by: kjah
Originally posted by: Dissipate
I'm sorry but that kid is an idiot. At eight years old I knew what guns were and I knew they were dangerous.
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Same here
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Im sorry but all children are idiots. You can't really use that as an excuse.
 
Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo
Originally posted by: Xyo II
Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
While I feel sorry for the family, the parents should have taught their 8-year old better firearm safety.
Click to expand...

No, they shouldn't have left a loaded handgun around where the kids could get at it.
Click to expand...

No kidding. You absolutely can NOT put a child's life into their own hands when it comes to something like this.
Click to expand...
Right, but there's nothing wrong with TRYING to give them reasoning to handle situations on their own. I agree that they shouldn't have left it out loaded like this, just that if they had taught them a bit more about it, that would have been the best solution.
Click to expand...

It would certainly have been one part of the solution but I still wouldn't rely on an 8 year old to exercise good judgement on something as serious as firearm safety 100% of the time. I don't care how mature he/she is. Handling loaded firearms isn't a game and you can't undo what happens after you pull the trigger.

That gun should have been locked away where the child can't get access to it.

BTW-I also don't think it serves any purpose to charge the parents with a crime in this case. They've already paid the ultimate price...🙁
 
Originally posted by: kjah
Originally posted by: RichUK
Originally posted by: kjah
Stupid kids!
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What do you expect? They're kids. Stupid parents!
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What kid doesn't know that guns are bad?
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Whilst that might be the case, kids do, do stupid things. So they are both stupid, however the parents are ultimately to blame. The parents are responsible for their own actions, and to a certain extent the childs actions.
 
Originally posted by: UFOfreak
Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo
Originally posted by: Xyo II
Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
While I feel sorry for the family, the parents should have taught their 8-year old better firearm safety.
Click to expand...

No, they shouldn't have left a loaded handgun around where the kids could get at it.
Click to expand...

No kidding. You absolutely can NOT put a child's life into their own hands when it comes to something like this.
Click to expand...
Right, but there's nothing wrong with TRYING to give them reasoning to handle situations on their own. I agree that they shouldn't have left it out loaded like this, just that if they had taught them a bit more about it, that would have been the best solution.
Click to expand...

No the best solution would be not owning a gun at all.
Click to expand...

That's great...so, because some people are idiots when it comes to guns we must all be treated like children? :roll: By that logic we should just assume that all people are drunken idiots behind the wheel of a car and ban those too...well, that would at least solve the obesity problem in this country.
 
Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Originally posted by: UFOfreak
Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo
Originally posted by: Xyo II
Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
While I feel sorry for the family, the parents should have taught their 8-year old better firearm safety.
Click to expand...

No, they shouldn't have left a loaded handgun around where the kids could get at it.
Click to expand...

No kidding. You absolutely can NOT put a child's life into their own hands when it comes to something like this.
Click to expand...
Right, but there's nothing wrong with TRYING to give them reasoning to handle situations on their own. I agree that they shouldn't have left it out loaded like this, just that if they had taught them a bit more about it, that would have been the best solution.
Click to expand...

No the best solution would be not owning a gun at all.
Click to expand...

That's great...so, because some people are idiots when it comes to guns we must all be treated like children? :roll: By that logic we should just assume that all people are drunken idiots behind the wheel of a car and ban those too...well, that would at least solve the obesity problem in this country.
Click to expand...

I never said that.

You should have to take a test before owning a gun. A very detailed test that takes a while.
 
Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo
Right, but there's nothing wrong with TRYING to give them reasoning to handle situations on their own. I agree that they shouldn't have left it out loaded like this, just that if they had taught them a bit more about it, that would have been the best solution.
Click to expand...

Absolutely, you have to tell a child what is right and what is wrong, and what to definitely not do. But a child is always going to want to do something that his/her parents tells them not to do.

"Don't touch that stove!"
"Don't ever lick a frozen metal pipe!"
"Don't drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes, or experiment with illegal drugs!"

At age 8, the kid might still want to play around with a gun, and not think about if it is loaded or not.
 
Originally posted by: UFOfreak

I never said that.

You should have to take a test before owning a gun. A very detailed test that takes a while.
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I know you didn't. I was just carrying that same logic a step further to show you how ridiculous it is. The problem wasn't the gun but the parents lack of responsibility.
 
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