Teen Accidentally Shoots, Kills Himself During FaceTime Call With Father’s Gun

A 14-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed himself while on a FaceTime call with his friend in Ohio on Wednesday.

The friend with whom the teen was chatting on FaceTime when the incident occurred ran to his neighbor’s house, who then called 911.

"My neighbor's son just came over and said he was on Facetime with a friend and the kid shot himself in the head," said the neighbor in the 911 call, local daily Cincinnati Enquirer reported.

The friend proceeded to recount details of the incident he had witnessed. He told the 911 operator that his friend was holding a gun near his head not knowing it was loaded. When the victim pulled the trigger, a bullet struck him in the face.

"He didn't know there was a live round in it. He thought it was completely empty. He just pulled the trigger and shot himself,” the friend told the emergency service provider.

The police arrived at the victim’s residence at 4200 block, Beechmont Drive, Union Township, Ohio, and discovered his body at 11 a.m. EDT. They were unable to determine where the victim obtained the gun from. The teenage witness mentioned during the 911 call that the gun belonged to the victim’s father.

When the operator asked him "It's his dad's gun? Was he in the house when you seen it? Did it look like he was in the house,” the witness said, “His dad's not home.” The friend also added there wasn’t anyone at the victim’s house when the incident happened.

The victim studied at the West Clermont High School. The principal of the school sent a letter to the parents of all the students, informing them about the tragic incident.

"Dear West Clermont families: We are deeply saddened to inform you that a student at West Clermont High School passed away today after an accident at home. While it may be tempting for some to speculate, I do ask that out of respect to the family, and for those involved, that our school community refrain from doing so. As always, but especially in this difficult time, the wellbeing of our students and staff is our top priority. We are providing grief counselors at the high school in both community rooms for those students and staff members wishing to talk,” the letter said.

“As we move through this very difficult loss, please know that we will try to maintain normalcy for our students. While that will be difficult, our teachers and staff will be sensitive to the student needs. It will take all of us time to work through this, but please do let me know if you have any concerns or thoughts. It is important at this time that our students and staff know that we are one pack and we will take care of each other,” it further added.

Neighbors left flowers outside of the victim’s home. Gary Stroup, who lives across the street from the victim’s house, said their community was deeply grieved by the accidental loss of life.

"A 14-year-old, 15 a teenage kid. You expect them to live forever. It's been a tough day," he said, adding that his heart also went out for the teenager who witnessed his friend’s death. "Can you imagine that kid, the memories he's going to have. You have a tragedy all around on that one today."