Boy, 7, Killed at Gun Store Parking Lot in Pennsylvania
A tragedy occurred at a Pennsylvania gun store when a young boy was fatally shot.
The incident occurred on Saturday involving the son of 44-year-old Joseph V. Loughrey while in the parking lot of a gun store.
Loughrey had brought his son to the Twigs Reloading Den in East Lackawannock Township, around 60 miles north of Pittsburgh, to sell a pair of guns that included a one scope rifle and a 9 mm handgun. After the father was told that the gun store didn't buy guns, he returned to his truck.
According to police reports, Loughrey put the rifle in the truck and attempted to put the handgun in the center storage console of the vehicle when the loaded gun fired. The shot hit Loughrey's seven-year-old son in the upper right chest while he sat in his booster seat. The boy died at the scene, according to the Washington Post.
The father said he was unaware that the handgun was loaded at the time.
This apparently is not that strange of an occurrence according to authorities.
"This happens all too often where people think the gun was empty," Lt. Eric Hermick told The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
Police are investigating the supposed accident and the father reportedly has been distraught but cooperative with state police. It's unknown at this time if any charges will be filed against Loughrey. The father could potentially be charged with child neglect and even manslaughter.
The boy's death has shocked the community. "I know that little kid was everything to him," Mark McLaughlin of Fredonia, a friend and co-worker of Loughrey's at Superior Well Services in Fredonia, told the Tribune-Review. "He was a wonderful little kid. He was special. He was full of life, a lot of fun,"
