LITTLEROCK : Boy, 10, Finds Handgun in Abandoned Car, Kills Self

A 10-year-old Littlerock boy accidentally shot and killed himself Tuesday while playing with a handgun he found in an abandoned car near his mother’s trailer, sheriff’s deputies said.

The 2:15 p.m. shooting occurred in the 37800 block of 90th Street East as the boy played with a .38-caliber gun in the living room of his mother’s trailer, said Deputy Britta Tubbs. The boy, whose name was not released, died of a single gunshot wound to the head, Tubbs said.

The boy and his 12-year-old brother were visiting an aunt a few blocks from their home when the younger boy found the gun in an abandoned car and did not tell his brother. When the boys returned home, the older brother left the 10-year-old alone while he used the bathroom. He heard a shot and “found the other brother lying on the sofa . . . with the gun at his side,” Tubbs said.

Investigators said the boys may have been having problems with other youths from a park and speculated that the younger brother may have wanted the firearm as a form of protection.

Neighbors of the family said the boys’ mother was in shock. “The mother is taking it very badly. It is very hard for her,” said neighbor Sarphine Phillips. “She said the boy found the gun under a car but it is all still a mystery.”