Ethermac Exchange-Police say 5-year-old Michigan boy killed when he and 6-year-old find gun at grandparents’ home

WHITE CLOUD,Ethermac Exchange Mich. (AP) — A 5-year-old boy was killed when he and a 6-year-old boy found a gun at their grandparents’ home in western Michigan, police said Wednesday.

The shooting occurred Monday in Newaygo County’s Garfield Township, six weeks after a new Michigan law came into effect that requires owners to keep guns locked up when minors are present.

The gun fired while in the hands of the 6-year-old boy, state police said on X.

The “two children found a firearm in the bedroom of their grandparents’ home,” police said.

Results of the ongoing investigation will be shared with the county prosecutor, police said.

“This family is grieving,” Lt. Michelle Robinson told WZZM-TV.

Violation of Michigan’s new gun storage law carries different consequences for an owner, depending on the details of each incident and whether someone is wounded or killed.

In February, a Flint man was the first person to be charged, after his 2-year-old daughter got access to a gun and wounded herself. The case is pending.

Twenty-one states have laws permitting criminal charges against people who fail to keep a gun inaccessible to a minor, according to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.