Cops: Teen covers shot friend with blanket, leaves
May 24, 2012, 11:55 PM
Associated Press
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) – An Arkansas man assumed the boy wrapped in a blanket on the futon in his home was his sleeping cousin. But hours later he realized it was a 14-year-old boy he’d never seen before who, police determined Thursday, had been shot while playing with a gun with a friend.
Little Rock police said the boy, TyJuan Woodard, died after he and a 13-year-old friend were playing with a gun that accidentally fired and shot him in the chest Wednesday. The younger boy had covered Woodard’s body with a blanket, then left and spent the night elsewhere without telling anyone what happened, police spokesman Lt. Terry Hastings said.
One of the 13-year-old’s relatives saw someone wrapped in a blanket on the futon Wednesday night. Thinking the boy was a cousin who had fallen asleep, he didn’t disturb him, according to a police report.
A few hours later, though, the man said he realized that the person on the couch wasn’t his cousin. He then picked Woodard up and noticed he wasn’t breathing.
Someone called 911 and when officers arrived, they found the boy lying face-up on the floor, according to the police report. There was blood on his face and chest, and as medics lifted his shirt, they found what looked like a bullet wound.
Police said everyone in the home said they didn’t know the boy or what had happened. Woodard lives elsewhere and had previously run away from home, Hastings said. Hastings said police talked to the 13-year-old Thursday morning.
Hastings said he wasn’t sure how the boys got a hold of the gun, which belongs to one of the 13-year-old’s relatives. He said they were playing with the gun in a bedroom when it went off and shot the 14-year-old in the chest.
No charges have been filed, but Hastings said the case will be forwarded to the prosecutor. One of the prosecutors, John Johnson, said his office hasn’t received the case file yet.
___
Follow Jeannie Nuss at
http://twitter.com/jeannienuss
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
