Florida boy, 14, accidentally kills 11-year-old brother with gun found in alley

A 14-year-old Florida boy accidentally killed his 11-year-old brother while playing with a gun he found in an alley near their home, police in St. Petersburg said Friday.

The incident occurred shortly after 12 p.m. Upon responding to reports of a child being shot in a home, officers found 11-year-old Amir Williams with his two older siblings.

“There was no school (Friday) and Amir was home with his 14-year-old brother and 13-year-old sister,” St. Petersburg police said in a news release.

Amir was found suffering from a gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at the scene.

His older brother later told investigators he had “found the gun recently and (that) the family was unaware it was inside the residence,” Mike Kovacsev, the police department’s assistant chief of investigations, told reporters in a news conference Friday afternoon.

He also admitted to accidentally shooting his younger brother.

The gun had been reported stolen during a vehicle burglary in St. Petersburg on Wednesday, according to police. It’s unclear how it wound up in the alley, and ultimately in the hands of the 14-year-old.

While officials are still working to corroborate Amir’s brother’s account of events, “we are likely not going to charge the 14-year-old (right now),” Kovacsev said.

“But it doesn’t mean that we’re not going to work with the state attorney’s office and discuss the facts of this case,” he added, noting culpable negligence, manslaughter, or other charges could still be filed.

“It’s an accidental shooting,” he added. “The family has some healing they have to do. We’ll deal with that with the state attorney’s office over the next week or so.”