Dad Tells 6-Year Old to Lie About Shooting 4-Year Old Sister in Face

Read Time:1 Minute, 34 Second
Pic courtesy of telegraph.co.uk
Pic courtesy of telegraph.co.uk

The NRA advocates gun ownership for all, including the blind and the very young, and they would be proud of the father who gave his 6-year old son not only a .22 caliber rifle, but a shotgun, which he promptly used to shoot his 4-year old sister in the face.

In late August, WKBT reported that Jackson County Sheriff’s deputies were called to a home in the Town of Alma, where the 4-year-old girl had been struck in the side of the head with a shotgun blast.

According to the Jackson Country Chronicle, authorities in Jackson said this week that 48-year-old father Fred B. Maphis had told his son to say that the shotgun had accidentally gone off when he dropped it. But the son later admitted that the father instructed him to lie because he had pointed the gun at the girl and pulled the trigger.

The boy told authorities that his sister had asked him to aim the shotgun at her, but he had made the mistake of putting it too close to her ear.

A sheriff’s office complaint said that the mother told investigators that the boy had been training with firearms since the age of 3. She said that he had his own .22 caliber rifle, but he was only allowed to shoot with adult supervision. The father insisted that he had just forgotten to unload and secure the shotgun.

Maphis was scheduled to be in court on Sept. 23 to face misdemeanor charges of leaving a loaded firearm near a child and obstructing an officer.

Initial reports said that the girl’s injuries were not life threatening.

Watch the video below from WKBT, broadcast Sept. 17, 2013.

Many thanks to RawStory for article contributions.

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Professor Mike

Professor Mike is a left-leaning, dog loving, political junkie. He has written dozens of articles for Substack, Medium, Simily, and Tribel. Professor Mike has been published at Smerconish.com, among others. He is a strong proponent of the environment, and a passionate protector of animals. In addition he is a fierce anti-Trumper. Take a moment and share his work.
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10 years ago

Seems like the supply of scandal and outrage runs low sometimes and lesser stories have to be pressed into service, lest they run out of ratings. But it’s all for a good cause, right?

Reply to  Professor Mike
10 years ago

Apparently, “shot in the face” was a media hyperbole.

“The boy told authorities that his sister had asked him to aim the shotgun at her, but he had made the mistake of putting it too close to her ear.” From that, it isn’t clear of she was hit in the side of the head, grazed her ear, or what. The gauge of the shotgun was also not clear, but I suspect no more than a .410, nor was the type of load mentioned. That’s typical sloppy reporting of the media.

10 years ago

Perhaps her injuries were not “life threatening” but I suspect they were certainly life-changing.

That might not be such a bad thing. She might grow up to be an advocate for responsible gun control. More likely, she will be terrified of any weapon forever.

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