Alaska youngster fatally shoots one other youngster with a rifle moments after they had been enjoying with toy weapons

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Moments after two youngsters had been enjoying with toy weapons, one of many youngsters picked up an actual rifle in a western Alaska dwelling and fatally shot the opposite youngster, authorities mentioned.

Alaska State Troopers had been notified by each tribal and native police Sunday of the kid’s demise in Mountain Village, the statewide legislation enforcement company mentioned.

Troopers responded and located “two youngsters had been enjoying with Nerf weapons when one in all them picked up a rifle and shot the opposite one,” the troopers mentioned in a web based assertion.

Village well being aides declared the kid lifeless, and the physique might be despatched to Anchorage for an post-mortem.

The kid received the rifle inside the house the place the capturing occurred, and an grownup was inside the house on the time, troopers spokesperson Austin McDaniel instructed the Anchorage Each day Information.

No prison fees have been filed, and McDaniel mentioned the investigation is ongoing. The Anchorage newspaper reported it’s uncommon for a gun proprietor in Alaska to be prosecuted when somebody is killed or injured when a toddler obtains the weapon.

Few particulars concerning the youngsters concerned, together with names and ages, might be launched “because of the dimension of the neighborhood that this tragic occasion occurred and our requirement to guard juvenile data,” McDaniel mentioned.

Mountain Village, a Yup’ik neighborhood of 600 individuals who apply a standard subsistence life-style, is positioned about 470 miles (756 kilometers) northwest of Anchorage.