Bealeton teen faces six charges after accidentally shooting friend

Wednesday, Jan. 23 | By Mark Grandstaff

A 17-year-old boy faces six criminal charges after accidentally shooting a 15-year-old friend in his home.

Fauquier sheriff's deputies first learned of the shooting last Friday, when they were called to Fauquier Hospital to investigate a 15-year-old teenager with a gunshot wound.

They learned that the 15-year-old boy, was accidentally shot in the upper right bicep by his 17-year-old friend while at the friend’s house in the 4300 block of Coventry Road in Bealeton.

The 17-year-old had gotten the gun from a nearby relative's home. A few days before the shooting, the boy forced open a gun safe in his relative's home and took three guns from it.

On Friday, both teens were at the 17-year-old's home on Coventry Road. They had shot the guns outside, then returned inside. The 17-year-old was unloading a 9-mm. handgun. The gun fired and shot the 15-year-old's upper right bicep, going through it, through a bed, and through the floor beneath.

Sheriff's deputies charged the 17-year-old offender with three counts of theft of a firearm by a juvenile, reckless handling of a firearm, breaking and entering and possession of a firearm by a juvenile. Deputies recovered the stolen guns.

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