New Hope teen charged with shooting friend with ghost gun
NEW HOPE, Minn. — A New Hope teenager faces charges in the shooting of another teen with a "ghost gun," court documents show.
The shot teen has since died, but charges were filed before his death. The charged teen, a 17-year-old, faces one count of first-degree assault and one count of owning, possessing or operating a machine gun, according to a petition filed in Hennepin County Monday.
According to the petition, the 17-year-old and a 16-year-old friend were playing with a gun at the 17-year-old's house on Sept. 18 when it went off, hitting the 16-year-old in the eye.
The 17-year-old called 911 and allegedly said his 16-year-old friend shot himself. Responding authorities found the 16-year-old unresponsive, with a ghost gun — an untraceable firearm assembled from separate pieces — on the ground.
The 16-year-old was hospitalized and put on life support, but died Tuesday, according to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office. The examiner identified the boy as Keair Reed of Chaska.
The 17-year-old initially told investigators he woke up to the sound of a gunshot and saw his friend injured, the petition states. Two other people in the home said they saw the two teens talking to each other just before the gun went off, and one of them saw the 17-year-old holding the other teen after the shooting and crying, "no, no, no."
Investigators discovered the gun had been modified with a binary trigger, which allows it to fire twice with a single pull and release of the trigger, the petition states.
The 17-year-old is scheduled to appear in court Oct. 3.
WCCO typically does not name juveniles charged with crimes.