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by Sherri_Ly

Last Post 24 days, 20 hours Ago


Accidental Shooting
Mar 20, 2008 | 5:52 PM
Category: News
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A 13-year old boy accidentally shot and killed his older brother late last night.  He told us he found the gun next to his father's bed and that his father doesn't normally lock up the gun.  Naaman Williams says he picked up the gun, started playing with it.  When he put it up to his brother's hip the gun went off.  15-year old Marcus Williams died.  The boys were home alone.  

The father, Samuel Smith, we've learned was a special police officer in DC for Metropolitan Protective Services.  The security company can't say if the gun was his service weapon but the law requires any weapon be kept "secure" if children under 16 are in the area.  The company told me Smith has been with the company more than 5-years.  It's a horrible thing but do you blame the father?  The boys' mother says she forgives him, that accidents happen.

If this were your family what would you do?  Should a father who leaves a gun around that kills a child accident or not be charged with a crime?  In Maryland failing to secure the weapon is a misdemeanor with a $50 fine and up to 30 days in jail.  Is that enough?

I think in so many of these cases the punishment of losing a child is already so great.  Would stiffer penalties really deter someone from making the same mistake?

You tell me.

9 Comments |  Add a Comment

Member Comments Total Comments: 9
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Mountaineerfan read my blog view my photos
Mar 20, 2008 | 9:10 PM

The parents should be blamed for not teaching their children proper firearms safety.I learned it from my folks and others before I even went to school.I learned it in an NRA course at eight and then again in high school via Va. Game and Fish mandatory course.No excuse.
Perhaps you should blame the Brady Center for touting the ideology that gun safety courses lead to "gun violence".I have said it before that when you treat gun safety the same way the Catholics treat sex ed you get the same results.....an accident.
grandillusion read my blog
Mar 20, 2008 | 9:29 PM

Near as I can figure, I've fired well over 10k rounds during my time in the Army. I've never had a weapon just go off. I'd blame the gun manufacturer.

I also agree with mountaineerfan... rule number 1... never point your weapon at something you don't intend to kill.
grandillusion read my blog
Mar 20, 2008 | 10:17 PM

Ahhh.... Sherri... you missed one very important point in your blog...

Per the story on myfox... "According to the boys' mother, the younger sibling has the IQ of a 6-year-old due to a learning disability."
Mountaineerfan read my blog view my photos
Mar 20, 2008 | 10:26 PM

Grand,I just tuned into Fox News at 10 and discovered that very fact too.In this case the gun should have been secured.I'm sorry but I'm not buying the father's excuse that the gun WAS secure and that the kid "must have learned to unsecure it from TV".I watch just as much tube as anyone and I'm stumped to figure out where exactly he would have seen that.No,I'm guesssing that it either wasn't secure or the kid saw his father or brother do it.
Now,Sherri why don't you ask the all important question "what type of lock did it have or how was it "secured" and let the masses decide.
I wouldn't look to the authorities for the correct answer on this either.That whole area up there being hard up to tout a "gun ownership kills" mantra(especially after Tuesday's Supreme Court outcome) would think no more of hiding the truth about this than spending sixty grand for a new crapper.
GrandmaM read my blog view my photos
Mar 21, 2008 | 3:04 PM

Sherri, here's what I don't understand. Why was the father careless with the gun? If he couldn't secure it, he shouldn't have had it.

Beyond that, I don't understand the mother. Why was the child who shot his brother filmed with his mom last night while the mother grieved publically? He was suffering, trying to hide his face. He may not understand all of what happened, but he was very sad. It was a terrible intrusion into his privacy. His parents were very wrong to allow the interview to be filmed.

Doesn't anyone have any common sense any more?
beagle_buddy read my blog view my photos
Mar 21, 2008 | 7:23 PM

hardly a stich "GrandM"...but it's a geographic demographic rather than a universal trait...
cindalu view my photos
Mar 22, 2008 | 8:34 AM

we have weapons in the house -- the handgun has its own safe, and the rifles all have trigger locks. Ammo is not stored near or with them.

My kids ( 9, 7, and 5) all shoot under the supervision of thier father.

They also know if they touch a weapon without thier Dad, they will rue the day!

That gentleman in the story should have truly 'secured' his gun. It is such a shame in this day and age of options for gun safety that any child can lay hands on an unsecured weapon and hurt/maim/ or kill anyone!

Shame on the parents.
Guns dont kill people, stupid people with guns do.
seyoruth
Mar 24, 2008 | 9:39 PM

it's so sad that people have guns in their homes but to leave one around too be fonnd by your child or childre to God be the glory we are losing too many of children because of family mistakes in our homes.
vincentam
Mar 25, 2008 | 1:20 PM

It seems to me the loss of his son is far more a punishment than the criminal justice system could impose.
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Sherri_Ly

Sherri Ly, Reporter WTTG/FOX 5 I began working as a reporter at FOX 5 in September 2002. I have worked in television news for more than 10-years. Prior to coming to Washington, I worked in Miami, Coastal North Carolina, Los Angeles and San Francisco. I'm a graduate of the University of Miami with a bachelor of science in Broadcast Journalism and Political Science.

Member Since: 8/31/2006


 

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