PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Police said a 12-year-old boy was accidentally shot and killed by his 14-year-old brother Wednesday night in West Philadelphia.
It happened around 9:30 p.m. inside a home on Brooklyn Street, near 42nd Street and Lancaster Avenue.
The boy was found in a third-floor rear bedroom with a gunshot wound to the head. He was taken to the hospital, where he died. He was later identified as Nashon Thomas.
Police said six people were in the home at the time, including Nashon’s mother and four other children.
Chief Inspector Scott Small said Nashon’s older brother was handling the gun, but police don’t know how the teen got it.
“We don’t know why they had the gun in the first place, whose gun it is, and why and in which way they were handling the gun, but the gun did discharge and did strike this 12-year-old,” he said.
The 14-year-old was arrested.