A 9-year-old was accidentally shot and killed by his juvenile sibling Friday afternoon in Arboles, according to multiple reports.
Archuleta County Sheriff Rich Valdez told The Pagosa Springs Sun the Sheriff's Office received a report of a shooting in the Arboles area shortly after 3 p.m. Friday.
The victim, a 9-year-old boy, was found dead at the scene. The scene was secured and the case was transferred for investigation to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation office in Grand Junction, the Pagosa Sun reported.
Valdez told the Pagosa Sun three juveniles - ages 7, 9 and 10 - were being supervised by an older sibling.
The older sibling told the children to go outside and play. The children went outside, and instead of playing on their property, went to a nearby vacation home that was unoccupied.
The children forced their way into the home and broke into a locked cabinet that had two firearms, one of which was loaded, the Pagosa Sun reported.
The loaded gun went off, striking and killing the 9-year-old. The two other children went back to their home and alerted the older sibling, who called 911. The injured child was dead by the time authorities arrived, Valdez said.
No arrests have been made and the names of the people involved have not been released.
The Pagosa Sun reported the family lives in Arboles, and the dead boy had attended school in Pagosa Springs.
Archuleta School District Superintendent Linda Reed told the newspaper, "The school district will have additional counseling support available for children and staff at all schools tomorrow in light of the tragedy. Support will also come from San Juan BOCES and other districts."
A GoFundMe campaign has been circulated since the shooting, asking for donations for the family and funeral expenses: https://www.gofundme.com/family-lost-9-year-old-son.
In addition to the Archuleta County Sheriff's Office, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, the Los Pinos Fire Protection District, the San Juan County Sheriff's Office and the Southern Ute Police Department responded to the incident.
jromeo@durangoherald.com
