Teen Peeved at Getting Up for School, Shoots Family

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on First Coast News.

An argument about getting out of bed led a teenage boy to open fire on three family members, including his grandmother and two young children, Nashville police said.

Officers responded to a report of an active shooting and shut down several roads in the area.

"There was a quarrel about getting up and getting ready for the day when (at some point) the 16-year-old ran to a closet, got a 9 mm handgun and started firing," said Kris Mumford, Nashville police spokeswoman.

Bullets struck the teen's 67-year-old grandmother twice. His 12-year-old sister and 6-year-old nephew were struck at least once each; the teen's nephew is his older sister’s son, Mumford said.

The teen's grandmother was transported to Vanderbilt University Medical Center where she was expected to recover. The two children were being treated at Vanderbilt's children's hospital, and no one else was injured.

But the teen, whose name was not released, also attempted to shoot his 42-year-old mother in the living room. Mumford said the woman ducked behind a couch to avoid being hit, and the boy's 2-year-old sister was not shot at.

The teen then fled and tossed the gun at a nearby apartment, the police spokeswoman said. Several nearby schools were placed on lockdown as police searched for the teen.

Police eventually recovered the handgun and captured the teen walking near railroad tracks in the area. He was charged in Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County Juvenile Court with four counts of attempted homicide and one count of reckless endangerment.

The teen's family members told officers they were not aware the firearm was in a closet, Mumford said. Investigators plan to test the gun to track where it came from.

“Fortunately these were non life-threatening injuries," Mumford said. "These are disturbing actions as the community as a whole is addressing youth violence. It’s going to take all of us working together to try and dissuade people from using this kind of violence."

Source: First Coast News
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/teen-peeved-at-getting-up-for-school-shoots-family/63734664