Police told gunshot that killed Detroit teen accidentally self-inflicted
DETROIT (WJBK) - Loved ones wept in the street for one so young lost so senselessly.
A group of teens skipped school and were hanging out inside a home on Parker on Detroit's east side around 10:45 a.m. Tuesday. Somebody had a gun, and 16-year-old Antonio O'Neill ended up dead, shot in the head.
"They [were] playing with a gun. The gun went off. He got shot in the head, and one of the little boys took off," said Meda Winfield, the victim's cousin.
"They were playing roulette inside the house with a gun and whatnot, and it went off by mistake," said family friend Delang Fouter.
Winfield described O'Neill as a good kid, but recently he started skipping school and hanging out with the wrong crowd. He lived just down the street with his parents, sister and two brothers. His mother, who works for Detroit Public Schools, got the call at work.
It's believed someone inside the house called 911. Several teens have been interviewed. They told police the gunshot was accidentally self-inflicted. However, one of the young men ran out of the house, dropped bullets in the street and ditched the gun, which police recovered.
That teen later turned himself into police. He is just 15 years old and being questioned.
"The more weapons that are out there, the more access they have to doing things like this. We'll be able to hopefully track and trace where this weapon came from," said Detroit Police Inspector Blackmon.
200
25
25
