An armed man who believed he was confronting an
intruder in the basement of his home Tuesday morning instead fatally
shot his 14-year-old son, who was supposed to be on his way to school,
police said.
Police said the teen had headed to the bus stop but
apparently came back home through a back door. The man said he heard a
noise in the basement. Police said when the father opened a door within
the basement, the boy appeared.
“He scared me!” the distraught
father said in his 911 call shortly before 6:30 a.m. “I thought he was
in school. I heard noise, so I went downstairs looking and he jumped out
at me. …. Oh, God. Get here quick!”
The man told police he
accidentally shot his son with a .45-caliber handgun. After initially
telling the 911 dispatcher the boy was hit in the chest, he then said it
was in the neck. The dispatcher told him to put the gun on the kitchen
counter, then talked him through first aid steps and tried to calm him
until police and emergency vehicles arrived.
The boy died at
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Police identified him as
Georta Mack. They didn’t immediately release the name of the father,
who’s heard in the tape repeatedly shouting, “Oh, God, please hurry! Oh,
God!”
Police officials said the Hamilton County prosecutor’s
office will decide whether there should be any charges against the
father.
“These types of tragedies are so horrific, they’re even unimaginable,” Police Chief Eliot Isaac told reporters.
A
police officer at the scene told reporters that the boy had apparently
decided he wasn’t going to school and returned home through the back
door.
Cincinnati has made reducing gun violence a top priority for
2016. Isaac said the shooting Tuesday underscored some important
messages.
He said those who have guns in their homes should get training and make sure the weapons are kept secured.
Referring
to indications the boy had planned to skip school, Isaac said children
should “tell the truth: make sure your parents know where you are,
absolutely.”
