Child dies after shot in Rock Hill with unsecured gun, police say. Man charged.
Police in Rock Hill have charged a man after a child died Saturday morning at a hospital after being shot Friday night with an unsecured gun, officials said.
The fatal shooting of a child is the second in three days in upstate South Carolina. Both involve unsecured guns, police said.
The identity and age of the child shot on Barrow Court in Rock Hill before 8 p.m. Friday have not been released.
Police arrested Kunle Lawal Laguda Jr., 39, of Rock Hill for unlawful neglect and possession of a firearm by a person convicted of certain crimes, Rock Hill Police Department Lt. Michael Chavis said Saturday morning.
Two children, including the one who died, were playing with the gun left unsecured in the master bedroom when the victim was shot, police said in a statement.
Police said they identified Laguda as the person responsible for “leaving the gun in a location where the children could reach it,” the statement said.
The other child was not hurt, Chavis said Saturday.
No other details about the Rock Hill shooting and investigation have been released.
Second SC fatal child shooting this week
In another child shooting in South Carolina this week, 2-year-old Rylin Burrell died at a Lancaster hospital after he was shot at a home in Great Falls in Chester County on Wednesday, police said.
No charges have been filed in that case. Great Falls police said in a statement Thursday, “the investigation at this point is focused on how an unsecured firearm was accessed.”
