VERO BEACH, Fla. — A 14-year-old Vero Beach boy is dead after police said he was accidentally shot by one of his friends.
According to the Vero Beach Police Department, the incident happened on Jan. 30. After nearly two months of investigating the case, police said Tuesday this was a "tragic accident" and criminal charges will not be filed.
"It's just very tragic," Vero Beach Police Chief David Currey said at a news conference. "Certainly could've been preventable and should have been preventable."
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Investigators said the boy and two friends were in his bedroom playing with a 9mm handgun which the 14-year-old had assembled after ordering individual parts off the internet over the course of about a year.
Currey said there wasn't a magazine in the firearm, but there was a bullet in the chamber, unbeknownst to the three boys.
Police said one of the victim's friends was holding the gun and accidentally fired it, striking the teen in the lower abdomen.
"The other one didn't know it was loaded," Currey said. "He had it in his hand. The deceased went to grab it and it accidentally went off."
The teen's mother told police her son woke her up, saying he had accidentally shot himself.
First responders raced to the child's home and, despite their best efforts to perform life-saving measures, the 14-year-old tragically died from his injury.
The boy's mother told investigators her son had had been ordering parts off the internet and was building a gun, but she was not aware he had ammunition.
Currey said Vero Beach police had sought child neglect charges against the teen's mother, but the State Attorney's Office declined to prosecute because the parent didn't know her son had ammo.
"She was not aware of any ammunition as far as him being in possession of any ammunition," Currey said. "She was aware that he was purchasing parts off the internet."
Calling the weapon a "ghost gun" with no serial number to track it, Currey said investigators are trying to figure out where the parts came from, adding that it's troubling how easily the underage teen was able to purchase the necessary parts and assemble the weapon.
"Evidently it's pretty easy and that's unfortunate," Currey said. "All too often there's too many ways to purchase a firearm."
A police detective at Tuesday's news conference said the parts were purchased using a Tor Browser on what's called the "dark web."
"It's just important to preach, preach, and preach gun safety to everyone," Currey said. "Once you fire a firearm, you have to be responsible for what leaves that barrel."
