Oct 27, 2008 2:45 pm US/Eastern
Mass. Boy Accidentally Kills Himself With Uzi
WESTFIELD, Mass. (CBS) ―
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The boy was rushed to a Springfield, Mass. hospital where he died.
WBZ
An 8-year-old boy has died after accidentally shooting himself in the head while firing an Uzi submachine gun under adult supervision at a gun fair.
CBS station WBZ-TV in Boston reported that Westfield police Lt. Lawrence Valliere said Christopher Bizilj of Ashford, Conn. lost control of the weapon. The incident occured as he was firing it Sunday at the Machine Gun Shoot and Firearms Expo at the Westfield Sportsman's Club.
The boy was with a certified instructor and "was shooting the weapon down range when the force of the weapon made it travel up and back toward his head, where he suffered the injury," a police statement said. They called it a "self-inflicted accidental shooting."
He was conscious and lying on the ground with a wound to the right side of his head when police and emergency medical technicians arrived, according to the Springfield Republican.
Christopher was rushed to an area hospital, where he died.
Police said the boy's father was at the gun fair and accompanied his son in the ambulance, but it wasn't clear if he was at the firing range with Christopher at the time of the accident. Police didn't give the father's name.
Although the death appears to be an accident, Hampden District Attorney William Bennett declined to comment until the investigation was complete.
"We are going to review all the circumstance regarding what happened, who was involved, what authorities they may or may not have had, who was supervising," Bennett said.
The private club has not commented yet.
According to its Web site, the event, run in conjunction with C.O.P Firearms and Training, is "all legal and fun."
The site said people are allowed to fire weapons "full auto rock 'n' roll" at vehicles, pumpkins and "other stuff we can't print here."
According to a flyer for the event, there was no age limit "or licenses required to shoot machine guns, handguns, rifles, or shotguns".
Under Massachusetts gun laws, children can fire weapons at a gun club - provided they are under the direction of a licensed instructor, and under parental supervision.
Those conditions were met in this case, Lt. Hipolito Nunez said Monday.
The Westfield Sportsman's Club is a private club founded in 1949 and touts itself as an organization that promotes "the interest of legal sport with rod, gun, and bow and arrow, both directly and through training."
It has eight firing ranges as well as archery and fishing facilities located on 375 acres in Westfield, about 100 miles west of Boston.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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