A 4-year-old boy identified as Messiah Taplin has been shot and killed in Arlington, Texas at about 12:30 a.m. on New Year day. Police investigators said the little boy was shot in the head by a man who was celebrating the New Year with a firearm after the clock struck midnight. The kid was rushed to a hospital but died a little after 1 a.m.
Police officers responded to a 911 call of gunfire and visited the apartment complex where the boy was shot. They found a blood trail which led to an apartment that was not locked. They searched the apartment and found evidence that a crime had just occurred at the scene. Soon, a car that reportedly drove out of the apartment complex earlier pulled up again at the apartment and police officers detained the occupants.
The Arlington Police Department later announced that the shooter and other persons of interest in Messiah’s death had been arrested and booked into jail. Police spokesman Tim Ciesco stated that they seek a manslaughter warrant against the individual and that his name will be released to the public after a judge signs the warrant.
“Based on evidence gathered, and statements made by the individuals who were inside the apartment at the time, it appears one of the adult males in the apartment was dancing or celebrating with a firearm – and it discharged, striking the 4-year-old boy in the head,” Ciesco said.
After taking the suspects into custody, the police in Grand Prairie which is seven miles away from Arlington where Messiah was shot reported that a 4-year-old kid was booked into a hospital in their jurisdiction but died from an obvious gunshot injury.
Messiah’s shooting death on New Year morning was the second fatality to be reported in the early hours of New Year’s Day. At about 12:25 a.m., police officers in Arlington were notified that several gunshots were heard in a neighborhood and on reaching there found a woman on a back porch dying of gunshot wounds. The unnamed woman was later pronounced dead at the scene and the police are still investigating the circumstances of her shooting death.
Source: abcnews.go.com
