Police ID Teens Who Died In Lawrenceville Shooting Tragedy

LAWRENCEVILLE, GA — The Gwinnett County police have released the names of two teenagers who died in a New Year's Eve tragedy involving a handgun. Police detectives said that Devin Hodges, 15, was showing his friends the handgun on Monday afternoon when he accidentally fired a shot, hitting 17-year-old Chad Carless, according to media reports.

Carless succumbed to his wound and died before help could arrive, the police said. Hodges then turned the gun on himself.

The police responded at about 3:15 p.m. Monday to the 1800 block of Riverlanding Circle near Lawrenceville, a police report stated. Carless, Hodges and two other boys had gathered inside a makeshift shed on the property to look at the gun when it went off, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

A police spokeswoman told the AJC that as officers arrived, they spotted Hodges running between two houses, where he took his own life with the handgun.

The property is in a subdivision of single-family homes outside the city. The shootings were still under investigation Tuesday, the AJC reported. Hodges and Carless were both from Lawrenceville.

The police did not release any details on the handgun, such as its caliber or manufacturer. Police detectives were working Tuesday to determine where the gun came from, WSB-TV Channel 2 reported.

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Image: Patch file