(Trinidad Express) – A ten-year-old boy died on Thursday night after he was shot in the head at his home in Arima.
Police are working on three possibilities as to how Christian Liverpool, a Standard Four pupil of the Arima New Government Primary School, died.
One is that he was in a bedroom playing with a gun which accidentally discharged, killing him.
The second theory is that an adult was checking the weapon when it discharged, hitting the boy.
Police told the Express another possibility was that Christian found the gun and when a relative tried to take it away from him, the weapon went off.
A 38-year-old relative of Christian—who was described by family members as a “little angel”—was said to be distraught over the boy’s death and ran into bushes behind his home and hid.
D’Abadie/O’Meara MP Lisa Morris-Julian visited the home and said she and other relatives coaxed the man out of nearby bushes.
He was last night assisting police with enquiries into Christian’s death.
Police said around 8 p.m. on Thursday, Christian was found in a bedroom of his family’s Bernard Street home.
He was found with the wrapper of a pack of biscuits in his hand, his favourite snack, a relative said.
Police said occupants of the house told them the boy was taken to the Arima Hospital where he died around 8.30 p.m. while undergoing treatment.
Officers said they then went to the house to recover the gun. It was not found initially.
They also searched for the child’s relative.
Morris-Julian said she and other relatives then got involved. She told the Express later yesterday that relatives contacted her as the police were intent on finding the gun that killed Christian.
She said relatives told her that the child’s relative had run into the bushes to the back of the house after he came back from the hospital.
She said they went into the bushes looking for him and found him there, crying.
“He seemed devastated,” she said. “We went through a park and found him in the bushes in an absolute mess. I had to hug him…and with his aunt and cousin we walked him out,” she said.
Police later found the gun which may have killed Christian.
Investigators told the Express that they were given an anonymous tip and the gun was found lodged in a neighbour’s gate opposite Liverpool’s home.
