By Morgan Lentes, WDSU
August 7, 2023
A 3-year-old male is in critical condition after being shot early Saturday morning.
The New Orleans Police Department says the shooting happened around 12:30 a.m. on Interstate 10 Service Road near Crowder Boulevard.
Initial reports from the NOPD indicate that the victim was asleep in his bed when 22-year-old Javonte Shelton started dry shooting a gun in the adjacent apartment . Investigators say a bullet came through the wall, striking the juvenile in the head.
Shelton was booked for Second-Degree Battery and Obstruction of Justice.
Rafael Goyeneche with the Metropolitan Crime Commission says accidental or unintentional shootings like this happen all the time, and he says can be prevented with the proper education and common sense.
“If you’re going to have a firearm, I think you owe it to yourself to be licensed and that means receiving some training and fundamentals, like you don’t dry fire a firearm indoors,” Goyeneche.
Goyeneche and the NOPD says when dealing with firearms, you must ensure you are knowledgeable on how to operate and store them.
“If you are going to have a firearm I think you owe it to yourself to be licensed and that means receiving some training and fundamentals like you don’t dry fire a firearm indoors,” Goyeneche said.
The Sgt. Shannon Brewer with the NOPD says the department has issued more than 500 gunlocks this summer and continues to offer gun safety classes to the community.
“It is important at anytime you own a weapon that you are knowledgeable of the weapon that you possess, but its very important for anyone to understand that using that layer of security and storing them properly,” Brewer said. “Just placing this gun lock on is that layer of security that will prevent any accidental incidents from happening in the community.”