9 year old accidental shooter sentenced to 12 mos probation

[Grace62]

http://today.seattletimes.com/2012/03/9-...-shooting/

"An arrest warrant for the boy’s mother, Jamie Lee Passmore, and her boyfriend, Douglas L. Bauer, was issued on Monday. Bremerton police said the couple negligently left loaded guns and shotguns around their Allyn-area home, allowing the boy easy access to the weapon.
The couple were not immediately taken into custody, police said. The boy’s lawyer, Eric John Makus, said they were on a previously planned trip to Las Vegas for a NASCAR event.

Jeffery M. Campiche, the attorney for (wounded child) Amina’s family, said the boy’s sentence was the result of a “logistical” decision by police and prosecutors to go after the adults who provided access to the weapon rather than the boy himself. He called it “a bargain with an unpleasant taste to it.”

[kj]

It seems reasonable judgment is prevailing so far.
Now that we have a pretty good idea what happened, I wonder why there were reports like this:

"The teacher in whose classroom the shooting took place says it was intentional, the boy pressed the gun to the girl's abdomen and fired, at least one shot. "

At any rate, I hope the boy's situation improves, and that the girl makes a full recovery. kj.

[Grace62]

That statement came from the husband of the teacher who was in the classroom and who saved the girl's life with first aid. He was the first person interviewed by local media right after the shooting. This was before it was announced that the gun went off inside the backpack. Due to the severity of the girl's wounds and the amount of bleeding, it's not surprising that the teacher initially thought the gun had been fired intentionally at very close range. She was incorrect, and this is not uncommon for someone in that extreme type of situation.


"Bremerton police detectives, upon learning from the 9-year-old that the gun came from "Doug," visited Bauer and Chaffin at an Allyn-area home the same day. Detectives allege they found a loaded, unsecured 9mm pistol sitting on a desk next to a computer in the home, as well as a loaded shotgun leaning against a nightstand. They also found Chaffin drove a vehicle with a gun in its glove box.

In a nightstand drawer next to a bed, Chaffin, who'd agreed to show investigators some firearms inside the home, noticed the H&K .45-caliber handgun missing."

Read more: http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2012/mar/0...z1oOCGuu5Z

[mattkime]

lets hope the gun owners do some time.

[RgrF]

They left for a Vegas trip leaving an 9-year old with casual access to firearms, I suspect the injured girl's family will one day own their home and anything else they have of value.

[Grace62]

RgrF wrote:
They left for a Vegas trip leaving an 9-year old with casual access to firearms, I suspect the injured girl's family will one day own their home and anything else they have of value.

They are on the trip now, which is why they have not been arrested yet. He got the gun when he stayed in their home on a weekend visit, and they were home. So while her young son is facing a judge for shooting another child, she's at a NASCAR race in Vegas.
She's probably not going to get that Mother of the Year award after all.