A nine-year-old child was arrested on suspicion of killing a family member with a gun in Utah (United States), local police announced Tuesday.
The tragedy took place on the evening of Friday February 16 in the town of Tooele, a law enforcement officer told AFP, without specifying whether it was an accident.
The police found “a 32-year-old man” who was unconscious at the home where they were called.
The victim suffered a “gunshot wound to the head,” and was taken to hospital “in extremely critical condition.”
The man “later succumbed to his injuries” over the weekend.
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According to the first elements of the investigation, the child, who was arrested "later in the evening", and the victim are from the same family.
“We are considering homicide charges,” police added, without specifying whether the deceased man was the child's father or what type of family relationship.
An “extremely sensitive” matter
Aware of the “extremely sensitive nature” of the case, law enforcement has not released the man’s name or any details about the child.
Police are still in the early stages of the investigation and are not ready to release details about what may have led to the shooting, Tooele police Corporal Colbey Bentley told local media KSL.
Guns are very easily accessible in the United States and the country pays a heavy price for their spread throughout the country.
The country has more individual weapons than inhabitants.
One in three adults owns at least one weapon and nearly one in two adults lives in a home where a weapon is present.
The consequence of this proliferation is the very high rate of firearm deaths in the United States, incomparable to that of other developed countries.
About 49,000 people died from gunfire in 2021, compared to 45,000 in 2020, which was already a record year.
This represents more than 130 deaths per day, more than half of which are suicides.