WA - Jenna Carlile, 7, shot dead by 3yo with dad's service weapon, 10 March 2012

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http://www.king5.com/news/local/Child-reportedly-hurt-in-Stanwood-shooting-142211265.html

STANWOOD, Wash. – The 7-year-old daughter of a Marysville police officer died Sunday after being shot by her young sibling on Saturday.

Police say at about 3:30 p.m. Saturday, two children were left alone in a van parked just off Highway 532 in Stanwood.

There was a gun in the car. One of the children picked up the gun and accidentally shot the other.
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The sheriff's office says their parents were nearby when it happened.

It's not known how long the children were in the car.

It's a big loss in Stanwood and in Marysville where the girl's dad is a police officer. Flowers outside their headquarters show how deeply the accident has impacted everyone.
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Investigators are not saying if the officer's duty weapon was involved, but many in the community say they're reluctant to criticize a parent who is now facing the unthinkable.............The girl, the oldest of four children, was a second grader at Utsalady Elementary School. There will be grief counselors at the school on Monday.
 
Unimaginable.

Prayers for this entire family.
 
Well I don't have problems criticizing the police officer. Leaving young children in a parked car with a loaded gun?
 
jjenny said:
Well I don't have problems criticizing the police officer. Leaving young children in a parked car with a loaded gun?
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You aren't alone in this. Kids are impulsive. Leaving a loaded gun in a car, with your kids is a recipe for disaster. NOw this poor child has to grow up with the knowledge and heartache that she killed her own sister.

Neglect charges against the father???
 
we don't know all the details yet

[it's possible something happened (like an accident?) & they exited the vehicle forgetting about the gun

it's even possible they were helping someone in distress at the side of the road]

it might make it a bit more understandable

I'm just speculating because none of us knows what led up to this yet

If I find out they went into a store or something, I won't be so forgiving
 
Reading the comments on the article, it seems the majority are in favor of the parents being charged with at the least neglect. Most are also comparing the case to the Bremerton child bringing a gun to school and a girl dying, where the parents are being charged.

I noticed a few comments mention the parents may have been in a pub/bar, consider that rumor, but no mention in the press or comments about any emergency being the reason the parents left the children alone.

Agree these parents are suffering and will forever for what has happened, I feel for them, but they should be considered the same as anyone else for leaving children unattended with a loaded gun.
 
I feel bad for the officer because he is kind of in a catch-22. Cops NEED to have loaded weapons because even when they are off duty, and out with their kids, they are still in danger. How many felons have snarled at them that they are going to hunt them down someday and kill their families. My friend who is in the gang suppression unit has been threatened a hundred times. And he caught a guy with a gun outside his house one night.

So cops are expected to be armed even when they are off duty and with their families.
My friend keeps a loaded gun under his front seat at all times because of those threats. He has sent gang members to death row and to prison for life, so he knows they can put out an order for revenge at any time. His kids are older now, but it still worries him that they might want to play with one of his weapons.
 
katydid23 said:
I feel bad for the officer because he is kind of in a catch-22. Cops NEED to have loaded weapons because even when they are off duty, and out with their kids, they are still in danger. How many felons have snarled at them that they are going to hunt them down someday and kill their families. My friend who is in the gang suppression unit has been threatened a hundred times. And he caught a guy with a gun outside his house one night.

So cops are expected to be armed even when they are off duty and with their families.
My friend keeps a loaded gun under his front seat at all times because of those threats. He has sent gang members to death row and to prison for life, so he knows they can put out an order for revenge at any time. His kids are older now, but it still worries him that they might want to play with one of his weapons.
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I think everybody should know not to leave little kids where they can get access to loaded weapons.
 
jjenny said:
I think everybody should know not to leave little kids where they can get access to loaded weapons.
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Exactly. They make small pistol safes that you bolt to the floor of you car.
 
jjenny said:
I think everybody should know not to leave little kids where they can get access to loaded weapons.
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Of course they SHOULDN'T. But not everybody needs to go through life being armed with a LOADED weapon either. And cops do have to be armed to protect their own families. Do you know how many enemies they make over the span of their careers?

Of course it was a stupid mistake. And a tragic one. But it is not like he had the loaded gun to protect his meth lab or something.
 
katydid23 said:
Of course they SHOULDN'T. But not everybody needs to go through life being armed with a LOADED weapon either. And cops do have to be armed to protect their own families. Do you know how many enemies they make over the span of their careers?

Of course it was a stupid mistake. And a tragic one. But it is not like he had the loaded gun to protect his meth lab or something.
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Well he didn't protect his family, did he? His child is dead. I fail to see why he should be treated differently just because he is a police officer.
 
I am glad I'm not the one who has to make the call on situations like this. :twocents:
 
My father was a cop. I was trained on weapons at an early age, way earlier than i should of been. My fear of him, even at a teen, prevented me from ever touching his guns, well atleast his handguns, i did touch his rifle once. My point in all of this, is that they weren't easily accessible when i was young. I didn't even know where they were at till i became a teen, and by then, he showed me where they were, so if anything were to go do down, i can come back blazing. Now i'm in Law Enforcement, with 3 kids, guess what, no guns anywhere near thier reaches. Under the seat? You are asking for trouble. I'd also like to say a prayer to his family, this has to be extremely traumatic for them to have to go through this.
 
My mother was a cop. We had a loaded gun in the house at all times. It was usually in her purse I think, though I'm not sure. I never paid much attention to it. She was required to carry it at all times whether on duty or off. We did not have a gun safe. That probably wasn't very smart, but my brother and I never messed with it. If the children were going to be alone in the car, the gun should have been taken with the parents. It was a dumb move on the part of the father and now there will be consequences to be had.
 
Rob774 said:
My father was a cop. I was trained on weapons at an early age, way earlier than i should of been. My fear of him, even at a teen, prevented me from ever touching his guns, well atleast his handguns, i did touch his rifle once. My point in all of this, is that they weren't easily accessible when i was young. I didn't even know where they were at till i became a teen, and by then, he showed me where they were, so if anything were to go do down, i can come back blazing. Now i'm in Law Enforcement, with 3 kids, guess what, no guns anywhere near thier reaches. Under the seat? You are asking for trouble. I'd also like to say a prayer to his family, this has to be extremely traumatic for them to have to go through this.
Click to expand...

He does understand that it is dangerous to have a weapon under his seat. But his sons play sports on a traveling team. He has gone to events with his kids and has come face to face with felons that he has personally arrested and testified against. Several times that has happened to him. He says he feels the need to have a weapon at hand because Oakland California has a very high rate of cops being shot in broad daylight. And he works in the gang suppression unit and has made a lot of dangerous enemies.

Obviously it is dangerous for him to have a loaded weapon within reach, but it is also dangerous not to have one within reach. imo I think it is a judgment call with no easy answers. He feels that he has trained his kids well enough to trust them but one can never be sure.

eta: It is only under his seat when they go to certain towns where he feels he might be recognized.
 
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