VENTURA : Parents Could Face Charges in Shooting
Police said Friday they will allow prosecutors to decide whether criminal charges should be brought against the parents of a 3-year-old Ventura boy who was accidentally wounded by a shotgun blast from his young stepbrother.
Ventura Detective Gary McCaskill said he will put together a case and send it to the Ventura County district attorney’s office next week.
Under a 1991 law, it is illegal to store firearms where they are accessible to children, McCaskill said.
David Cook was wounded when 6-year-old Keith Cook loaded and fired a shotgun he found in the family’s motel room Wednesday. David was in critical but stable condition Friday at Ventura County Medical Center.
The injured boy’s stepfather, Joe Richey, said the gun belonged to a man who was a friend of the family. The accident occurred as the children’s mother, Sharon Richey, was sleeping in the room where the children were playing.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
