A 12-year-old boy shot and killed his 14-year-old cousin on Sunday in a residential area of ​​Brownsville, in Brooklyn, as reported this Monday by the New York Police, which is still investigating whether the minor “was playing with the gun” when the event occurred.

The boy, who He was arrested the same Sunday and whose name has not been revealed, has been accused of involuntary manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and possession of a weapon for this event, which occurred around 10:30 a.m. local time.

The Police have indicated that when the agents arrived at the scene they found the 14-year-old boy – identified as Jasai Guy – in the living room unconscious and unresponsive with a gunshot wound to the chest. Subsequently, he was transferred to a nearby hospital, where his death was immediately certified.

The 12 year old boy he had visited his cousin on the fifth floor of an apartment building where he lived with his father – a firefighter by profession – and his grandmother, according to local media.

Dushoun Almond, who directs Brownsville In Violence Out, an organization against violence in the neighborhood, said that relatives had told him that the boys had been playing with the gun when it was shot. It has not yet been clarified how they obtained the weapon.

According to an analysis published last year by the journal Pediatrics, between 2011 and 2021 the rate of deaths from firearms among those under 18 years of age increased by 87% in the United States, now ranking as the leading cause of death in children and adolescents.

At a press conference held last Wednesday, Eric González, Brooklyn District Attorney, announced the dismantling of a gang that had killed two teenagers in a period of three years, and lamented the number of victims that the gang armed violence was taking a toll on young people in New York and across the country.