Major Criminal Charges Arise from Air Gun Incident

The adults watching TV in the living room of the home in Edgewater didn’t notice when someone took a BB gun into the bedroom where four boys were hanging out. One of the boys started playing around with the air-powered BB rifle, pumping it repeatedly and swinging it around.

It went off and hit one of the other boys in the head. But they didn’t think it was “serious,” according to the Capital Gazette (Lorrichio, Lauren. “Man charged with shooting 9-year-old in head with BB gun in Edgewater.” Capital Gazette. July 11, 2016. www.capitalgazette.com)

When the boys told the adults what had happened, the adults examined the boy who’d been shot. While he was bleeding at the temple, he otherwise seemed fine. But the next day, they all learned that it was indeed “serious” when Emergency Room x-rays showed that a projectile had punctured the boy’s skull and lodged in his brain.

The boy who’d been “playing with” the BB gun, who was 18 and therefore an adult in the eyes of the law, now faces charges of attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault, second-degree assault and reckless endangerment. Bail was recently affirmed by a judge at $175,000.

“Playing” with a recreational air rifle became a very serious matter. According to the injured boy’s mother, her son was unable to return to school after the incident in April and has been unable to participate in sports since his injury. Doctors did not remove the BB from his brain because there was more risk involved in the removal than in leaving it in place.

BB guns are often viewed as toys rather than weapons, so they’re not subject to the same laws as other guns and they’re often not treated with the same care and caution. Because they use compressed air rather than an explosive to expel a projectile, air guns such as BB guns and paintball guns are generally not considered firearms under U.S. Federal law ( see 18 U.S.C. §921(a)(3) and ATF Rul. 2005-4.)

But whether or not it was considered a weapon by those involved in the incident, the use of that BB gun in Edgewater now has potentially life-changing consequences for two boys—one dealing with a head injury with unknown ramifications and the other facing felony charges of major proportions.

In addition to the criminal charges, there could be civil liability as well, not only for the 18-year-old wielding the BB gun but also for the owner of the air gun and/or the owner of the home where the gun had been stored.

The serious nature of the criminal charges in this case could point to a significant damage award in a civil action—something that probably never occurred to whoever it was who decided to purchase that air rifle.

Outside of the criminal component of the incident, there can be civil ramifications as well. Personal injury attorney John Yannone commented, “This case serves to illustrate how a lack of supervision and lack of gun safety training can lead to serious injury and a lawsuit for damages for those injuries.”

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