8-year-old boy dies after accidental shooting in Lehi parking lot

LEHI – An 8-year-old boy who was hospitalized in critical condition Monday night after apparently accidentally shooting himself in the head has died.

Lehi police said the child died of his injuries at the hospital Tuesday morning. His name has not been released.

According to Lehi Police spokeswoman Jeanteil Livingston, police responded to a report of a shooting in a vehicle parked in front of the Maverik supermarket, 3569 N. Thanksgiving Way, just before 7:40 p.m.

She said a child accidentally shot himself in the head. An on-duty officer arrived and attempted life-saving measures with the help of bystanders before the child was taken to a nearby hospital and then flown to another hospital along the Wasatch Front.

The incident remains under investigation.

Doug Shields, who was in the store at the time of the shooting, said he saw the boy's mother frantically calling for help and a young boy covered in blood. While others rushed to the child's aid, he and another man helped the mother, who briefly fell unconscious before she could describe what happened.

“She says, 'He shot himself. He shot himself. He shot himself. … He found the gun under my seat and pulled the trigger.' It was apparently an accident. A total accident,” Shields said.

Lehi Police Sergeant Jeff Smith said the incident was a sad reminder of the importance of gun safety and ensuring children do not have easy access to guns.

• It came just over a week after a five-year-old Santaquin boy died of what was confirmed to be an accidental gunshot wound after finding and firing a 9mm handgun in a back room.
• A Magna woman was also charged with aggravated child abuse last week after prosecutors said she left her gun on a shelf and her 3-year-old son picked up the gun and shot himself in the foot on Aug. 2.

“It's super tragic,” Smith said. “We hate to react to things like this.”

Contribute: Andrew Adams