BCSO Says Man Was Playing With Gun When 9-Year-Old Was Shot

The 9-year-old girl who was wounded in an accidental shooting on Monday was shot as her mother’s boyfriend was playing with his pistol, the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office said.

The girl was shot in the side Monday afternoon at a residence near Highway 82 and Giles Road and needed to be airlifted from the residence. The girl was critically injured and remains in the hospital, the Gwinnett Daily Post reported.

Early reports after the incident said that the gun went off while it was being cleaned.

The boyfriend, Tyler Lewis, 25, of Winder, has been charged with the shooting.

The gun went off while Lewis was reportedly playing a game to see how fast he could take his gun apart and put it back together again while his girlfriend’s three children were watching, the Post reported. The sheriff’s office said Lewis even asked the children to time him.

Read more of the Post’s story here

Lewis has been charged with cruelty to children/criminal negligence and reckless conduct, according to jail records. He was being held in the Barrow County Jail.