ARLINGTON, Texas — A North Texas teen has been charged after his 2-year-old brother accidentally shot and killed himself at an Arlington home earlier this month, according to police.
Arlington police said the incident happened around 12:30 a.m. on April 4 at a home in the 5300 block of Pocassett Drive in south Arlington, near Kingswood Boulevard and Texas State Highway 360.
Police said dispatched received two calls. The first call came from the mother who said her son was bleeding. The second call came from a neighbor who reported hearing a gunshot.
When police arrived, they found a woman holding her son, who had an apparent gunshot wound. The boy – later identified by the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office as Rio Carrington – was taken to a hospital, where he died, police said.
At the time of the incident, police said there were four children and one adult in the house.
In an update on April 18, officials said the boy's teenage brother had been arrested for his death.
Police said investigators learned that the boy found a gun in his brother's room and accidentally fired it, shooting himself. Officers recovered two firearms at the home – both believed to have been brought there by the teen, police said. Investigators are still working to determine where and how he got them.
The boy's brother is facing two charges, according to police: one count of Making a Firearm Accessible to a Child Resulting in Death / Serious Bodily Injury and one count of Tampering with Physical Evidence.
Police said they were not able to release the teen's name since he is a juvenile. He is currently being held at the Tarrant County Juvenile Detention Center, according to APD.
Arlington Police Department receives accidental discharge calls multiple times a year. The department is offering free gun locks to people at 620 Division Street in Arlington.
“It’s always a sad and unfortunate situation when a child is injured in any kind of way. So, arriving on scene and seeing a child with a gunshot wound to the face, it’s disheartening. It’s mentally draining, emotionally draining and just overall a bad situation,” Sgt. Courtney White said. “This is why we enforce and try to tell the public, please lock your handguns up. Now, this mom is going to have to bury her young child.”
Cook Children’s Health System also pushes prevention of these types of incidents.
Since 2018, Cook Children’s saw 247 firearm-related injuries, and 22 of those were fatal. In 2022, there were 45 firearm-related injures, where eight were fatal.
Cook Children’s hopes to educate the public with three items to focus on:
- Safe Storage: Keep the ammunition separate from the gun when not in use, and keep the firearm locked.
- Safe Children: Teach your children about gun safety, and let them know not to touch it and tell an adult when they see one. Get them in the practice of knowing what to do if they come across a firearm.
- Safe Play: Have a conversation if you are bringing your child to someone’s house by asking them if they have firearms and if they are safely stored.
NOTE: The following video was uploaded on April 4