Another teen becomes victim of apparent accidental shooting

Days after a Hillsborough County teen was shot inside a police officer’s home, a second family is dealing with a teenager shot who got ahold of a gun.

Citrus County deputies say a 13-year-old boy is in Shands Hospital in Gainesville Monday following a shooting involving juvenile siblings the day before. The Citrus County Sheriff’s Office said the shooting was accidental. It happened at a home on North Blue Bream Terrace in Hernando, Florida.

About 10 days before, on December 13, a group of teenagers was hanging out inside a Tampa police officer’s house in Lithia when one of them got ahold of a gun. Bradley Hulett, 15, ended up being shot and later died. The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office says it was likely an accident, but the investigators are still working to figure out what happened.

“Usually you don't want to assume anything, but with guns, you always want to assume that they're loaded. Always,” said Capt. Preston Hollis of Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office the day of the shooting.

While tragic, gun safety instructors say the incidents are preventable.

“Children need to understand gun safety and gun safety principles on a very deep level, and they have to be reminded of it on a regular basis,” said Ryan Thomas, owner of Tampa Carry.

Thomas said it’s parents' responsibility to teach children: firearms are not toys.

“What I see a lot on gun ranges and what happened in both of these stories is the children were handling a firearm that was clearly loaded. They clearly had their fingers on the trigger, and they obviously did not have the firearm pointed in a safe direction,” said Thomas.

Law enforcement and gun experts say knowing the dangers is not enough and adults must lock up their firearms so children and teenagers can’t get to them.

“No matter how well you think your children understand gun safety, we still can't just allow firearms to be accessible to them because kids do silly things and it's just bound to happen,” said Thomas.

Investigators have not shared much about what led up to both shootings, but they said parents should remind their children to leave guns alone and tell an adult if they find one.