5-year-old boy dies in accidental shooting at Smithfield home

UPDATE: A charitable account has been opened for the Johnson family. The account is at America First Credit Union. The name is “K L Johnson Family, Charitable Account.” Anyone can transfer funds from their AFCU account, go into any branch, or call 1(800) 999-3961 and donate by card.

SMITHFIELD — An autopsy is being performed on a 5-year-old boy, who is believed to have accidentally shot himself in the head. The shooting occurred Sunday morning at a home in Smithfield.

Smithfield City Police Chief Travis Allen said the boy’s family had returned Saturday night from a camping trip. They had unloaded all of their supplies into the home and then went to bed.

“The 5-year-old boy woke up early and went downstairs, and started going through the stuff,” said Allen. “He found a handgun, the family had taken with them camping. He started playing with that handgun and it discharged.”

The bullet struck the child in the head. It is suspected that he was killed instantly.

Allen said the rest of the family was still asleep when the shooting occurred.

“It was fairly early in the morning and the family came down and found the boy. It is a two-level home and the family was in the upstairs and they came downstairs to the main level to find the child.”

Police and emergency crews responded to the home. The child was pronounced dead at the scene and turned over to the Utah State Medical Examiner’s Office.

Allen said no one else was injured in the shooting. The initial evidence suggests the shooting was a “tragic accident.”

“It doesn’t appear suspicious now but it is standard procedure that we will go down and observe the autopsy just in case something is brought to light. We aren’t seeing anything that would warrant suspicious circumstances.”

The identity of the child has not been released, pending notification of extended family.

Allen said the shooting was traumatizing for everyone that was called out to the home. It is a heartbreaking reminder of the importance of caring for firearms.

Always unloaded, always secured. We can’t preach that enough. I understand that you’re coming home from a long weekend and you think it is fine to keep stuff there because nobody is going to touch it, but you never know. Especially with firearms, it is particularly important that you make sure that you secure those things.”

Funeral services are expected to be announced later this week.


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4 Comments

  • Steve August 3, 2021 at 1:43 am Reply

    This wasn’t an “accident,” it was negligence. The owner of the weapon should be held accountable.

    • Anne T Dote August 3, 2021 at 6:33 pm Reply

      They will be held accountable by having to deal with the loss of their child for their own negligence for the rest of their lives.

  • AKH August 3, 2021 at 10:52 am Reply

    I would hope that if this kind of thing happened to a member of your family, people would be a WHOLE LOT more tactful than you! Was there errors in judgment made? Yes. Will these parents have to live with that knowledge for the rest of their lives? Yes. Apparently you are THE one person on earth who has never made a mistake and lived to regret it!

  • Anne T Dote August 3, 2021 at 6:35 pm Reply

    So tragic, indeed! Thoughts and prayers for the family.

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