Boy, 13, “accidentally” shoots self dead while friends watched live on social media
A 13-year-old boy shot himself to death to the horror of his Instagram friends who watched the tragic incident live.
Malachi Hemphill was live on the social media site on Monday when he brandished a gun to his followers.
He was reportedly urged by one of the followers to load the gun during the live video and he obliged.
“I heard a big boom. I couldn’t tell if it was a gun shot or what,” Shaniqua Stephens, Malachi’s mother told WXIA-TV.
“I just knew that it was something that was wrong.
“We kicked in the door. We found him just laying there in a pool of blood. My daughter screamed and said, ‘Mom turn his phone off!’ As I proceeded to look at his phone he was on Instagram Live.”
Malachi was rushed to the hospital where he died.
“There was about 40 to 50 kids outside,” Shaniqua said. “I guess these were the kids that were watching on live that live in the area. I guess when it happened they just ran over here.”
Malachi’s mother believes the incident was an accident and not a suicide. She urged parents to be watchful of their children’s activities.
Detectives are working to find out how Malachi got ahold of the gun.
