A 15-year-old Florida boy has been charged with manslaughter after firing a gun that accidentally killed two of his friends with the same bullet.
via NYDN:
Joseph Blanco was arrested following Monday night’s tragic incident in Miami-Dade County after pals Jose Villarreal, 15, and Julio Labrada, 14, were found dead from gunshot wounds.
“Two lives lost and a third ruined — the tragic consequences that result from weapons being in the wrong hands,” Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho tweeted Tuesday. “Guns should never be accessible to children.”
Blanco told investigators that he was handling the firearm in the garage went it went off, striking both victims. Only one shot was fired.
Labrada was in eighth grade at Keys Gate Charter School, and Villarreal attended Gateway Environmental K-8 Learning Center, according to 7 News in Miami.
Blanco will be tried as an adult, according to CBS in Miami.
“I think it is so important for parents to educate their children and communicate with them about gun safety and educate their children that having a gun is a great responsibility,” police spokesman Alvaro Zabaleta told CBS in Miami. “This is something to take very seriously, because once a bullet comes out it can come back.”
A tragic accident, indeed.
