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A man and a teenager have been charged over the death of a nine-year-old boy killed by an accidental gunshot in Australia.
Emergency services were called to a property in Windellama at about 11.20am local time on Sunday, and the Hume police were told the minor had sustained injuries.
Mohamed Fattah was on a weekend away with relatives near Goulburn in southern New South Wales when a 14-year-old boy allegedly picked up a gun from inside a vehicle and discharged it, hitting the minor.
Fattah, 9, was treated by paramedics for serious neck injuries but he reportedly succumbed on the spot.
The 14-year-old was arrested shortly after the incident along with a 33-year-old man and taken to the Goulburn police station. While the teenager was charged with possessing an unauthorised firearm, the man was charged with letting an unauthorised person possess a firearm and not keeping it safely.
The boy, given conditional bail, was likely to appear before a children’s court on 16 May, the New South Wales police said.
Ron Wenban, who lives two doors down from the property where the incident occurred, said it was “rare to hear one shot here”.
“We were outside and I said to my partner, ‘Was that a shot?’ and she said, ‘Yeah,’” he told the ABC. Shortly after, Mr Wenban said, he heard sirens and about an hour later an emergency helicopter flew overhead.
“Once the chopper came over, I said to my partner, ‘Someone’s been hurt.’ To have a gunshot like that happen, that was a concern, neither of us wanted to go over there,” he said.
The victim’s mother remembered Fattah as a “very cheeky son”, the ABC reported.
New South Wales premier Chris Minns offered his condolences to the minor’s family and reiterated the need for compliance with gun laws.
“It’s a very troubling story and a life has been lost as a result. These are dangerous weapons, everyone must comply with the laws, they’re in place for a reason to keep people safe. I’m sure this was a terrible, terrible accident, but a life’s been lost as a result,” he said.
“We need to make sure that under all circumstances, everybody in the state complies with the law when it comes to firearms, it’s not designed to get in the way, it’s designed to save lives.”
Goulburn Mulwaree Council mayor Nina Dillon said that the incident was a reminder for the community to take gun security seriously.
