Today's instance of unnecessary gun-related violence comes to us from Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Ray Sherman Jr., the 14-year-old son of Green Bay Packers (NFL) wide receivers coach Ray Sherman, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Sunday, May 18, 2003.
The Sherman family was moving from their rented house when Ray Jr. found his father's gun in the garage. Adults were present but in other parts of the house at the time. Police lieutenant Jim Arts said on May 19, 2003 that he was unsure if the death was accidental or a suicide.
Arts knew Ray Jr. as the coach of his eighth-grade football team. "He was just a wonderful young man, very well liked," Arts said.
Ten minutes after the gun went off, the boy's father found him and called 911. Attempts to resuscitate the boy were unsuccessful.
Ray Sr. told police that the gun and its ammunition were usually kept in separate places.
An autopsy is scheduled for May 19, 2003, though Arts cautioned that we may never know what happened.
Source: Associated Press