5-Year-Old Boy Finds Gun, Fatally Shoots 7-Year-Old Brother

ST. LOUIS, MO — Jermon Perry, 7, was fatally shot at his home on the 3100 block of California Avenue Saturday afternoon. The Post-Dispatch reports the shooter was the boy's 5-year-old brother. He was apparently searching the house for candy but found a gun instead, hidden in an upstairs dresser drawer.

Jermon was taken to a hospital, where he died.

The 5-year-old shot Jermon in the head while the older boy was playing a video game. The family said the 5-year-old didn't understand the difference between a toy gun and a real one, and still doesn't understand that his brother isn't coming home from the hospital.

The gun belonged to Jermon's father, 39-year-old Jericho Perry, who has a concealed carry permit.

More than 30,000 Americans are killed by guns every year and twice that number are injured, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 13,000 are murdered. The rest take their own lives or are victims of shooting accidents. Almost half are children or young adults.

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