PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Law enforcement sources say the district attorney has charged a 10-year-old boy with several crimes in the shooting of his 12-year-old brother over the weekend. The city’s top prosecutors on Monday would not confirm it.
Law enforcement sources say police believe the 10-year-old got the gun from another relative’s house and brought it into their grandmother’s home, where he shot his brother in the chest around 11:15 a.m. Sunday.
District Attorney Larry Krasner would not confirm if the boy had been charged, saying juvenile law prohibits his office from confirming if a child is charged.
“For certain ages, we are really not allowed to say anything. But separate and apart from that, when we have an ongoing investigation and when there is activity going on, we don’t want to place police in harm’s way. And we don’t want to affect the integrity of the investigation,” Krasner said.
“There may come time soon enough when that investigation is complete and that impediment is out of the way and if there is, and if there is an adult arrested in this case, in that context, we can say a whole lot more than what the law permits us to say here.”
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But he says ‘someone’ has been arrested.
The district attorney’s office has previously announced charges involving other young children, including the beating death of James Lambert.
Krasner would also not say whether the gun was illegal. He says they are still investigating, and adults could be charged.
Authorities have not said whether or not they believe the shooting was accidental, but they are reminding adults to keep guns locked up and inaccessible to kids.
“Take every possible measure to secure them with gunlocks and other provisions so that we can protect our children,” said Assistant D.A. Bob Listenbee.