Father Accidentally Shoots Seven-Year-Old Son Outside Gun Store
A seven-year-old boy was killed over the weekend when a handgun his father was trying to sell accidentally discharged in the parking lot of Twig's Reloading Den, a gun store in East Lackawannock, Penn.
Craig Loughrey was sitting in his booster seat in his father's truck on Saturday morning when his father's gun went off, hitting him in the chest. A few minutes earlier, he and his dad, Joseph, had been inside Twig's, unsuccessfully trying to sell a rifle and the 9mm handgun that killed Craig. Paramedics attempted to revive the seven-year-old, but were unsuccessful.
Craig's mother, who is divorced from his father, was out shopping with her partner Heather Groeger, when the state police called.
"He loved his mom more than anything," said Ms. Groeger. Craig would tell his mom, "When I turn 18, I'm going to move to China and become a ninja," she said. For practice, he'd dress up as Batman around the house.
Ms. Loughrey didn't like her son to be around guns, said Ms. Groeger. He was on the autism spectrum, and she worried that he'd confuse reality with his superhero fantasy.
No charges were filed.
