Tre’Michael, a 9-year-old Louisiana boy, was shot by his 10-year-old friend at a home in Alexandria, cops say (GoFundMe).
A 9-year-old Louisiana boy was allegedly shot by his 10-year-old friend at a home last month in what was initially deemed an accident but is now viewed as purposeful.
The Alexandria Police Department responded to the shooting around 11:45 a.m. on Dec. 6 at a home in the 100 block of Chester Street. Cops arrived to find the alleged victim suffering from a gunshot wound. He was rushed to the hospital in critical condition.
The initial investigation stated the gun went off after the two boys were playing with the firearm. But when the victim was able to speak days later, he made a startling claim.
“When the tube first came out of his mouth and he was able to talk, the first word to me was, ‘Mama, Mama, he shot me on purpose,'” the boy’s mother, Lakisha Ledguies, told local NBC affiliate KALB.
Ledguies said she couldn’t believe what was happening.
“I lost it,” she told the TV station. “Not my baby. Not my baby.”
Cops now say the shooting was intentional, per KALB. The 10-year-old boy was reportedly arrested for aggravated battery and juvenile in possession of a firearm. He was taken to a youth detention center.
Investigators have yet to say how the suspect obtained the gun, but Ledguies said she heard it came from a family member.
The victim, Tre’Michael, lost his right kidney, half a lung and “his intestines were shattered by the bullet,” his uncle said in a GoFundMe account description.
“Our family is still in shock, and every day brings new challenges as he fights to recover from this traumatic event,” Courtney Blake wrote. “The road ahead is long and filled with uncertainty.”
Blake said his nephew was released from the hospital a couple of days after Christmas.
Police did not name the suspect because of his age. The case remains ongoing.
Ledguies said the shooting was avoidable and urged parents of young kids to follow this simple piece of advice.
“Take the guns away. Take them away. They don’t need them,” she said.
