Spanaway Jr. High is the next school over from the one where I teach;
this really hits home.

Lissa Can'tTheyJustLockTheDamnThingsUp? Wingling

Teen badly hurt in shooting

                  Stefano Esposito; The News Tribune

                  A Spanaway youth was "gravely" injured Tuesday in what
investigators suspect is the
                  second accidental shooting involving Pierce County
children playing with a loaded weapon in
                  less than a month.

                  The youth, who was shot in the head, was flown by
helicopter to Harborview Medical Center
                  in Seattle late Tuesday, said Pierce County sheriff's
spokesman Ed Troyer.

                  The shooting occurred about 4:30 p.m. at an address in
the 1500 block of 154th Street East,
                  Troyer said. No adults were at home at the time and
the children had "open access" to several
                  weapons, Troyer said.

                  At the time, three youths - all students at Spanaway
Junior High School - were hanging out at
                  the home. One of the youths, who lives at the house,
was playing on a computer in one room,
                  while his two friends were apparently in another room
playing with a .22 caliber,
                  semi-automatic rifle, Troyer said.

                  The boy holding the rifle apparently didn't realize it
was loaded. A single bullet hit the victim in
                  the head, Troyer said.

                  Moments after the shot was fired, the shooter ran out
of the room and told the boy on the
                  computer what had happened, Troyer said.

                  There were no reports of any other injuries. Several
other youths were inside the home, but it
                  appears the shooter and the victim were in the room
alone when the rifle was fired, Troyer
                  said.

                  At the time, the homeowner was out running errands,
Troyer said.

                  "It appears the guns had been played with in the past,
and the kids had access to them,"
                  Troyer said.

                  The latest shooting comes only two weeks after a
12-year-old Tacoma boy accidentally shot
                  his best friend while the boys were handling a
revolver at home on the city's East Side. No
                  adult was home at the time. The gun belonged to the
brother of the surviving boy, police have
                  said.

                  Deadly accidental shootings involving children are
rare in Pierce County. Tacoma-Pierce
                  County Health Department shows that from 1996 to 2000,
there were two such shootings
                  involving children between the ages of 10 and 14, none
for children ages 15 to 17 and three
                  involving teens ages 18 to 19.

                  For the same time period, there were 18 nonfatal
firearms accidents involving children
                  younger than 18 who were hospitalized for their
injuries.

                  Stefano Esposito: 253-597-8644
                  stefano.esposito{at}mail.tribnet.com

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