WASHINGTON (TIP): 16-year-old boy from Tennessee had an extreme reaction when his family told him to get out of bed and go to school – he shot them.
On March 2 morning the teenager, who has not been identified, became angry that his grandmother, Eearline Hill, and his mother, Sheryl Williams, told him to get his day started, according to a police statement.
The teenager threatened the two women and then got his handgun, which no one knew he owned. He then fired several shots in the family home, police said.
“There was a quarrel about getting up and getting ready for the day when [at some point] the 16-year-old ran to a closet, got a 9 mm handgun and started firing,” Nashville police spokeswoman Kris Mumford said, as reported by the Tennessean.
Bullets hit his 67-year-old grandmother twice, while his 12-year-old sister and 6-year-old nephew – his older sister’s son -were reportedly grazed by gunfire.
The boy allegedly tried to shoot his mother, 42, in the living room but she ducked behind the sofa to avoid being hit.
He fled the home and tossed the gun away at a nearby apartment.
Metro Schools spokesman Joe Bass said six nearby schools were placed on lockdown.
Police later retrieved the gun and captured the teenager, who was walking near a set of railway tracks.
He has been charged with four counts of attempted homicide and one count of reckless endangerment. He refused to speak with domestic violence detectives.
The teenager attended the Johnson Alternative Learning Center and does not have any record of violence, according to Nashville police spokeswoman Kris Mumford.
The grandmother and the children are being treated at hospital and expected to make a full recovery.
(PTI)