Posted on 05/02/2013 8:33:46 PM PDT by Colonel Kangaroo
Caroline Sparks was playing with her brother, Kristian, when he accidentally fired his Crickett rifle at his sister in their Cumberland County home, police said. Charges have not been ruled out in the case.
A single bullet to the chest killed the 2-year-old Kentucky girl shot by her 5-year-old brother clutching a “My First Rifle” — a tragic accident that could lead to charges.
Kristian Sparks shot his sister, Caroline, with a .22-caliber rifle around 1 p.m. Tuesday inside the family’s mobile home in rural Burkesville, Cumberland County. Their mother, Stephanie Sparks, was outside on the porch pouring grease out of a frying pan when she heard the gun go off, Kentucky State Police said.
A trooper didn’t initially anticipate charges being filed in the case, but said Wednesday that could change, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported.
“I think there is still some information that we don’t fully understand,” said Trooper Billy Gregory, adding that a grand jury could have the final say.
An autopsy on the tiny toddler was scheduled for Wednesday, with a memorial visitation set for Friday and a funeral service to be held Saturday.
Cumberland County resident Jeff Booher, 53, said learning how to use a gun is a rite of passage for many children who live in this area of southern Kentucky near the Tennessee border.
He taught his three children — ages 9, 12 and 22 — how to handle a gun when they were 4 or 5.
“People learn how to shoot before they learn how to read,” he told the Daily News.
Booher, who runs a tire shop, said he knows the Sparks family and described Caroline as a “little angel.”
Since guns are such a major part of life in the area, it’s rare that someone would be accidentally killed by a firearm.
“I think people will be a lot more careful after what happened,” Booher said.
Officials identified the single-shot rifle as a Cricket, which is produced by Keystone Sporting Arms in Pennsylvania. It sells the weapons in a variety of colors, from hot pink to brown to a swirl of red, white and blue.
Its website has a long list of testimonials from parents who talk about how grateful they are to be able to go shooting with their children. All of the guns have safety locks, and some even have ones that require a key.
The company’s phone went unanswered Thursday.
Officials said Kristian’s rifle — given as a birthday present last year — is normally kept in a corner of the Sparks' home. Although the safety lock was on, the family says they didn’t realize a shell was still inside the firearm.
In Cumberland County, as elsewhere in Kentucky, local newspapers feature photos of children proudly displaying their kills, including turkey and deer. Even one of the latest reality shows on CMT, “Guntucky,” features a family-owned gun range in Kentucky.
Ruby Wright, who teaches hunter safety classes in Cumberland County, said children younger than 9 can sit in, but they can’t get certification. She also coaches 4-H shooting sports, requiring those children to be 9 as well.
Cumberland County Judge Executive John Phelps said he knew the family well. He said the father, Chris Sparks, works as a logger at a mill and also shoes horses.
The family lives in a gray mobile home on a long, winding road, surrounded by rolling hills and farmland that’s been in the family since the 1930s. Toys, including a small truck and a basketball goal, were on the front porch, but no one was home Wednesday.
There’s a house across the street, but the next-closest neighbor lives over a hill.
Family friend Logan Wells said he received a frantic call telling him that the little girl was in an accident and to come quickly.
the chest with his rifle, police said. When he got to the hospital, Caroline was already dead. “She passed just when I got there,” Wells said.
Sharon Rengers, a longtime child advocate at Kosair Children's Hospital in Louisville, said making and marketing weapons specifically for children was “mind-boggling.”
“It’s like, oh, my God,” she said, “we’re having a big national debate whether we want to check somebody’s background, but we’re going to offer a 4-year-old a gun and expect something good from that?”
State Rep. Robert R. Damron, a Democrat and an outspoken gun rights advocate in Kentucky, said the problem is not guns, but the parents who do not teach gun safety and responsibility.
“Why single out firearms? Why not talk about all the other things that endanger children, too?” he said. “The Second Amendment doesn’t give anybody carte blanche freedom to put children and juveniles at risk.”
...there is no reason a child should be in possession of the firearm anywhere but a gun range.
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I understand you’re talking of the present time.
I’m a War Baby (’42) (the gen before the Boomers). Grew up in area of Dallas where there were about a dozen or so boys within a block, ranging in age from about 6 to 18, when I was around 8. Two blocks South were fields. Three blocks East were woods.
ALL of us would walk down the streets with our guns to go hunting, with the older boys carrying .22s or .410s and the younger boys carrying Benjamin pump pellet guns or Daisy BB guns. ........No adult supervision and no one was ever injured, because our dads had taught us well about gun safety. ........Lots of squirrel, rabbit and quail were taken home for good cookin’!
Why the hell call the manufacturer? Do they call Ford when there's a hit and run?
First, if you are going to teach your children how to shoot a rifle you need to buy a child size weapon....shorter stock, lighter components and usually a single shot.
Second, the weapon needs to be secured safely. Evidently these people thought they did with a trigger lock safety but left a cartridge in the weapon. A mistake with tragic consequences.....
I taught all four of my children to shoot beginning at 5 years old, always under extremely close supervision and the weapons (when not being transported or used) are locked in a gun safe.
Gun safety and weapons training should begin at an early age.
These parents (from other reports) were good parents,loved their children and made a tragic mistake.
The answer is they were not thinking. I got my first BB gun at age 8 and my first .22 at age 13. And I had the good sense to never aim either gun at anyone, something banged into my little head by my parents.
Especially since the main safety lock on a Cricket keeps the bolt from being closed. They were designed that way so parents could lock the bolt open.
stupid irresponsible parents, dead baby, permamently damaged child
you cannot legislatee against all forms of stupid
Children need to be continuously taught to respect all dangerous things and possibilities. When tragedy inevitably happens, it's an opportunity to teach them again.
“I think it is good for children to be exposed to firearms at a young age and from day one be taught the proper respect and care that needs to go with guns.”
I dont think a 5 year old is capable of being taught to responsibly handle a firearm without direct adult supervision. It is good to start teaching them at a young age however, but you cant trust them to be alone with a deadly object.
Too bad we don’t have a law against STUPID parents.
“State Rep. Robert R. Damron, a Democrat and an outspoken gun rights advocate in Kentucky, said the problem is not guns, but the parents who do not teach gun safety and responsibility. “Why single out firearms? ...........
A demodummie that is an outspoken gun rights advocate and someone who actually gets it? Whoa! He is certainly stands out in a crowd.
No doubt they were good parents, very sad story.
Personally I do not think I would put a firearm in the hands of a child before 11.
If a child was to be trained prior to that, it would be with a bb gun.
5 seems much too early to me for bullets. I do not think a child has the capacity to understand the consequences of bullets at that time.
Three is not to young to shoot. I have plenty of pictures of my son shooting a gun at three. I am of course hands on the firearm at all times. In fact it is a cricket that he was shooting.
It really all depends on the level of supervision that someone plans to give. I have never had an issue with one of my children being curious about the guns. I have a 10yo daughter that shoots trap. She has also handled guns since she was very young.
Additionally, if this child was being taught to handle guns at a young age (which of course is not the problem) then of course the VERY FIRST thing we all learn is NEVER POINT A GUN AT ANYBODY FOR ANY REASON OTHER THAN ABSOLUTE NECESSITY.
Somehow, this lesson either wasn't given or didn't stick, and the child should not have had unattended access to a gun under those conditions.
A tragedy that could heave been avoided. There can be no worse punishment than what this family will now have to endure as the years pass...
Hmmm. three might be a little young to learn the mechanics, but it is not too young to start learning the safety parts of gun ownership... .
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