An 8-year-old Carroll County boy who shot himself in the head Saturday with a handgun he got from a closet at his home died yesterday at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, a spokeswoman there said.
Karen Infeld, the spokeswoman, said Christopher Jenkins of Old Hanover Road in the Silver Run area north of Westminster died at 5: 25 p.m. in the pediatric intensive care unit at Hopkins.
State police at the Westminster Barracks said Christopher's parents, John and Shellie Jenkins, were at work in Westminster shortly after 8 a.m. Saturday when Christopher unlocked a master bedroom and got a .25-caliber handgun from a closet.
It was not known if the gun was loaded or if the boy loaded it, police said.
They said Christopher's 13-year-old brother was in another room.
Christopher was playing with the weapon when it discharged and a bullet struck him in the head, according to a police report.
It is believed the older brother heard the gunshot and called police after finding his wounded brother in the master bedroom.
Christopher was flown by state police MedEvac helicopter to Hopkins.
"As best we can tell, it was an accident," state police Detective Sgt. Bruce Smith said Saturday. Sgt. Laura-Lu Herman, a state police spokeswoman, said the incident is being investigated. She said loaded weapons must not be accessible to minors.
Herman said violators can be fined up to $1,000.
Pub Date: 2/09/98
