CA - Bryan Lockley, 11, shot to death, Los Angeles, 15 May 2004

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A 14-year-old boy was arrested in the slaying of his 11-year-old cousin whose body was found over the weekend in an apartment trash bin, police said Monday.
The teenager, whose name was not released, was arrested Sunday night at an apartment near where young Bryan Lockley's body was found Saturday, said police Capt. Kenneth Garner. The teen, who told relatives the shooting was accidental, was raised with Bryan and often lived in the same apartment
"They're very close by all accounts," Garner said, adding that "some kind of dispute" led to the shooting. "We do know that they had had some rivalry in the past and so that may play a part in this."

The teen had not gone home since the shooting Saturday afternoon. He was being held at a juvenile facility, and told police he had the shotgun used in the shooting for about two years, Garner said. Detectives searched for the weapon Monday.

Bryan's sister Ramona Reese, 24, said she spoke with the 14-year-old by phone Monday morning.

"He was upset and said it was an accident," she said. "I want to talk to him personally, see eye to eye. He's my cousin. I love him regardless of anything."

http://www.sacbee.com/state_wire/story/9327095p-10251809c.html

So this kid has owned a gun since he was 12 years old and this family is surprised that something like this happened? :furious:

owning a gun doesn't make you kill your cousin so yeah I guess they are surprised.

LP Moderator said:

So this kid has owned a gun since he was 12 years old and this family is surprised that something like this happened? :furious:

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Probably surprised it was his cousin that got shot. One might assume that someone who has owned a gun for two years knows how to use it.

I don't see why he had access to it, my father put my brother through a hunting safety course and bought him his first rifle at age 12 but at no time was my brother allowed to handle the gun unless he was with my father either hunting or target practice. My father kept possession of the weapon in a locked gun cabinet with his weapons.

strach304 said:

I don't see why he had access to it, my father put my brother through a hunting safety course and bought him his first rifle at age 12 but at no time was my brother allowed to handle the gun unless he was with my father either hunting or target practice. My father kept possession of the weapon in a locked gun cabinet with his weapons.

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As any good parent should. But that would entail someone paying attention to the child. I'll have to find the article, but the first one I read about this was that the mother was in rehab and had just gotten out when this happened. I got the distinct impression that the kids were on their own most of the time.