Boy dead in shooting, charges may follow

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published July 4, 2007

BRADENTON - The owner of the .32 caliber revolver a 12-year-old Bradenton boy shot himself with may be facing charges, authorities said Tuesday.

But detectives were still trying to find out who owns the firearm Shawn Poag Jr. got his hands on Monday.

"Guns, unfortunately, have a way of getting into other people's hands, " said Randy Warren, spokesman for the Manatee County Sheriff's Office.

Investigators said the boy was showing the gun off to his 12- and 13-year-old cousins about 12:15 p.m. Monday at his grandmother's house in the 3800 block of 11th Street E.

His cousins had walked away from the home briefly and then heard a gunshot, Warren said.

The boy had shot himself in the upper torso. He staggered out of his house before collapsing on his front lawn.

Paramedics took Shawn, a Samoset Elementary student, to Manatee Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The incident shook up Shawn's neighborhood, and his former teachers at Samoset. Shawn was going to start school at King Middle next year.

Samoset Principal Scott Boyes described Shawn as a popular boy who got along well with his classmates and teachers. On Tuesday morning, a team of counselors went to the school to meet with administrators and teachers, Boyes said.

Though school wasn't in session, summer school was in full swing. But the students attending summer classes are younger and most are from other schools, Boyes said. Not many of them knew Shawn.

Warren said detectives are trying to pin down the owner of the firearm. "We're not ready to release information or identify who the gun belongs to yet."

Once the owner is identified, that person may face charges.

[Last modified July 3, 2007, 23:30:32]