US

‘It Went Off By Mistake’: Family Reacts To Livestreamed Shooting That Killed 12-Year-Old, 14-Year-Old

[Shutterstock/Carl Ballou]

Font Size:

Two children died when a gun they were playing with fired during a livestream at a family party Friday, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The 12-year-old, Paris Harvey shot her cousin, Kuaron Harvey, 14, before shooting herself while the pair was streaming on Instagram Live, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. The incident occurred while the children were in a bathroom, unsupervised, during a party at the Cupples Station Loft Apartments, the outlet reported. The children’s family members reportedly rented the apartment to celebrate March birthdays. The party was for teenage and young adult family members.

The shooting was accidental, with both children being struck in the head, their family members explained, according to the Post-Dispatch.

“It wasn’t a situation where they were arguing or anything like that,” Paris Harvey’s grandmother, Susan Dyson, told the Post-Dispatch. “They were playing with the gun when they shouldn’t have been.” Dyson later added that the gun went off “by mistake.” (RELATED: Mother Of 5 Shot And Killed After Kids Found Gun In Purse, Police Say)

Police first described the incident as a murder-suicide, according to the Associated Press (AP). Paris Harvey’s mother, Shinise insisted the incident was a “freak accident,” however.

Shinise Harvey also said that Paris and Kuaron, who were known as pranksters, were “trying to be too hip,” the AP reported.

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department responded to the incident around 2 a.m. on Friday, according to KSDK. They found the two children dead when they arrived on the scene, the outlet reported.

Police are investigating the incident and are working to determine who owned the gun that the children were shot with.

Family members said they believed the gun used in the shooting allegedly belonged to Kuaron, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.