Five-Year-Old Shooter Kills Two-Year-Old Sister With ‘My First Rifle’

A 5-year-old boy shot and killed his 2-year-old sister with a .22 caliber Crickett gun in Cumberland County, Kentucky. In a sad twist of events, the Crickett® brand of youth rifles are marketed as “My First Rifle.” They are intended to be used to teach children early how to handle weapons properly and use them with respect.

The boy reportedly received the rifle as a gift for his last birthday. It was kept in a corner, and the family didn’t know that it still had a shell in it.

The accident happened around 1 pm on Tuesday afternoon when the mother reportedly stepped out of sight for a moment to do some cleaning. Caroline Starks, age 2, was ruled dead on arrival at the Cumberland County Hospital.

Cumberland County Coroner Gary White will be performing the autopsy today, but he already told local media that he will rule the death as accidental. “Just one of those crazy accidents,” he said.

Seems like there have been a lot of accidents lately. In April, the 4-year-olds of America went on a shooting spree. A New Jersey 4-year-old killed his 6-year-old friend, also with a .22 caliber rifle. The day before, a Tennessee 4-year-old shot and killed a deputy’s wife, with one of the deputy’s own firearms.

The sheriff’s deputy said then that he wouldn’t be pressing charges against the gun’s owner, explaining, “Nobody is immune to this – nobody. It doesn’t matter if you are a law enforcement officer. These things can happen in seconds.”

While he may have a point, I’m going to admit that I’m not necessarily as forgiving. To my mind, the Davey Crickett youth rifle is a real weapon that must be used with respect to teach kids how to shoot. It cannot and should not be handled carelessly like a stuffed toy that can be kicked into an idle corner.

“A 22 is deadly at the longer distances,” said You Tuber Iraqveteran8888, who posted this video to demonstrate:

What do you think about the “My First Rifle” five-year-old shooting accident?

[air rifle photo by ppart via Shutterstock]