Dad Shoots 5-Year-Old Son With AR-15 While Cleaning Guns: Police

OAKLEY, CA — A man accidentally shot his 5-year-old son in the torso with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle while cleaning his guns Sunday at a home in Oakley, according to police.

Officers responded around 9:30 p.m. to the 1700 block of Hemlock Court and arrived to find the man holding the boy and applying pressure to the wound, police said. The child was helicoptered to a hospital and is expected to make a full recovery, despite requiring surgery, according to police, who noted the injury was a graze wound.

The man told authorities he had been cleaning his guns when he accidentally pulled the trigger while removing the AR-15 from a gun case, discharging a bullet and striking his son at close range, police said, adding the father reported he thought the rifle was empty.

Authorities believe there was no intent behind the shooting, but they still authored a search warrant, seized all guns from the home along with additional evidence, and plan to submit the investigation to the district attorney’s office to explore charges, according to police.

“We are very thankful the injuries sustained by the boy are not worse than they are; an inch of difference of where the bullet struck the boy would have been a different, and more tragic, outcome,” Oakley Police Chief Paul Beard said in a news release Monday.

“Even though we believe this to be an awful accident, some crucial errors of negligence were made. Firearms should always be treated as if they are loaded and one should never put a finger on the trigger of a firearm unless there is an intent to shoot it.”