TAMPA, Fla. — The State Attorney’s Office issued a statement on Friday outlining how it believes a teenager was shot and killed in a Tampa Police officer’s home in December of last year.
According to the statement, four teenage boys went to the home on Bridgewalk Drive in Fish Hawk after school. One of the boys is the son of the police officer.
The officer’s son went into his father’s master bedroom, which was locked, to use the bathroom because the only other one was being used, the State Attorney’s Office explained. The officer’s son picked the lock with a paperclip.
A short time later, investigators said the boy went back into his dad’s bathroom to get a plunger when the group noticed a gun. The officer’s son thought the gun was unloaded and removed it from the holster. However, investigators explained although there was no magazine in the gun, there was one bullet in the chamber.
While one of the teens, 15, was in a bedroom playing video games, the three others entered with the gun, according to the State Attorney’s Office.
Then, one of the teens, who also thought the gun was unloaded, pulled the trigger, shooting the boy playing video games in the head, the statement reads.
The boy did not survive. The teen who shot the gun was not the officer’s son.
The State Attorney’s Office said there are two legal issues at hand: One being the killing of the teen and the other being the storage of the gun.
Investigators do not believe the boys meant to kill their friend and said the evidence clearly shows that it was a “tragic accident where all the boys mistakenly believed the gun was not loaded.”
The State Attorney’s Office is pursuing a charge of manslaughter with a firearm as a result.
As for the second potential crime, investigators do not believe the officer’s storage of the gun meets the criteria of a crime.
The statement says the officer told his son not to go into his bedroom, locked the door and kept the gun in a safety holster. It goes on to say the boy’s father had no reason to believe his son would get the gun because there were no behavioral problems in the past.
The State Attorney’s Office concedes that the gun was not locked in a safe and the master bedroom door could have been unlocked easily.
However, under Florida law, the attorney’s office says the teen’s access to the weapon must have been “likely” and not just “possible.” And, the father’s belief was that the gun was secure must have been “unreasonable,” and not just “mistaken," the statement says.
The State Attorney’s Office is not pursuing charges for the officer.
To read the entire statement, click here.
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