Police: 5-Year-Old Accidentally Shoots Toddler, Video Games Involved

This May 8, 2014 phowo shows a quick access handgun safe in Wichita, Kan. Most area sporting goods retailers and gun shops provide a variety of quick access handgun safes and lock boxes. (AP Photo/The Wichita Eagle,... This May 8, 2014 phowo shows a quick access handgun safe in Wichita, Kan. Most area sporting goods retailers and gun shops provide a variety of quick access handgun safes and lock boxes. (AP Photo/The Wichita Eagle, Mike Hutmacher) MORE LESS
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Police say video games were involved in an incident where a 3-year-old girl was accidentally shot Monday morning by another child.

Colorado Springs TV station KRDO reported that a 9-year-old boy found a handgun inside a Pueblo, Colo. home. Another 5-year-old child then got ahold of the gun and accidentally shot the toddler.

The 9-year-old told police that he learned how to handle the gun and get it ready to fire by playing “Call of Duty: Black Ops,” according to the news station.

The 3-year-old underwent surgery at a local hospital and was in critical condition.

Police said the toddler’s mother and her boyfriend, Adrian Chavez, were at home when the shooting occurred. Chavez was arrested and police said they planned to charge him with child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury for leaving the gun unattended.

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Notable Replies

  1. But…but…but…what about the gun?! Is it OK?!

  2. NO! It couldn’t have been a video game! People can never been influenced by entertainment media!

  3. Avatar for meri meri says:

    Either way, unless the game controller was used to bludgeon someone it is an irrelevant detail.

    If the kids had been good Alabama kids and had been arguing over who got the next go at the family Bible would that have made the news?

  4. …Few people are going to tell you that minds, especially young ones, aren’t affected by the media at all.

    The argument is that video games are a marginal contributing factor at most to situations like these.

    • A nine-year-old shouldn’t be playing Call of Duty, and it’s not easy for a kid to get access to it if the parent is generally mindful of what entertainment they’re letting their kid consume. If it hadn’t been a video game, I am doubtful that he or she wouldn’t be emulating one of the many other kinds of media that have gun-based heroism.
    • A nine-year-old shouldn’t have access to guns.
    • Video games, unlike guns, have a value to society that does not involve the destruction of people or property.

    Hoping the toddler turns out okay. Well, all the kids. It’s going to be rough on the others psychologically too.

  5. The 9-year-old told police that he learned how to handle the gun and get it ready to fire by playing “Call of Duty: Black Ops,” according to the news station.

    I can’t believe that game comes with a loaded handgun! The GOP is right! We do need to start regulating video games!

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