A Florida teenager fatally shot his sister on Sunday during an argument over Christmas gifts, then was shot moments later by his teenage brother.
According to a press release from the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, Abrielle Baldwin, 23, and her brothers, ages 14, and 15, went shopping on Christmas Eve with their mother and Baldwin’s 11-month-old and six-year-old sons.
While they were in the store an argument developed over gifts.
“They had this family spat about who was getting what and what money was being spent on who, and they were having this big thing going on in this store,” Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said at a news conference.
After they finished shopping they went to their grandmother’s house where the argument continued and things escalated.
Once they were inside, the 14-year-old pulled out a .40 caliber semi-automatic handgun and told his 15-year-old brother that he was going to “shoot him in the head” Gualtieri said. An uncle intervened at that point and sent the 14-year-old outside.
Baldwin was outside at the time with her baby and told him to stop arguing because it was Christmas. Police say the 14-year-old called her several derogatory names and then shot her in the chest.
The baby was in a carrier and was not harmed.
The 15-year-old then rushed outside with his own firearm and shot his brother in the stomach because he shot their sister. He then ran, tossing his firearm into a nearby yard, police say.
Baldwin was rushed to the hospital where she was pronounced dead. Her brother underwent surgery and is in stable condition.
“He will be transferred to the custody of the Pinellas Juvenile Assessment Center once he is released,” the sheriff’s office said.
Officers located the 15-year-old at relatives home in Clearwater. He was reportedly threatening to harm himself and was taken to a mental health facility.
The 14-year-old has been charged with first degree murder, child abuse and delinquent in possession of a firearm.
The 15-year-old was charged with attempted first degree murder and tampering with physical evidence. Officers are still unable to locate the .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun he used to shot his brother.
Neighbors reportedly told police that the boys “carried guns all the time,” according to NBC News.
Both teens have prior arrests for car burglaries. Gualtieri said the boys got their guns by “stealing them from unlocked cars, they’re out in the middle of the night doing car burglaries.”
“These young kids 14, 15 years old routinely carry firearms and this is what happens when you got young delinquents that carry guns, they get upset they don’t know how to handle stuff so they just take out their guns and start shooting each other and one of them kills his sister,” Gualtieri said.
