Oakland Child Shooting: Suspect Arrested, 4-Year-Old Boy Has No Sign Of Brain Activity
OAKLAND (KPIX) -- A 37-year-old man has been arrested and charged with multiple firearms offenses and a four-year-old boy was on life support without brain activity Thursday after the youngster apparently found an unsecured gun inside an Oakland home and accidentally shot himself in the head.
Oakland police said Terrence Leavell Wilson was detained at the scene following Wednesday's shooting and later arrested. He is being held without bail on child cruelty, felon in possession of a firearm and stolen property charges. A female adult who was also detained was released pending further investigation.
Family members identified the 4-year-old as Na'Vaun Price Jackson, who celebrated his birthday last week. The youngster underwent surgery at Children's Hospital in Oakland, was in a coma and was listed in critical condition.
However, a family spokesman said the youngster has no sign of brain activity and is on life support.
Doctors will slowly decrease his medication in the coming days and monitor his response.
"As a mother, I have to be strong but I'm holding in there -- have a lot of pain. I'm gonna push through," said Brijjanna Price, Na'Vaun's mother.
Both of the boy's parents have lost multiple family members to gun violence in Oakland. His father lost three siblings and his mother lost a brother and a number of cousins and friends.
Oakland Police spokeswoman Johnna Watson said the shooting happened inside a home on the 2400 block of Richie Street in East Oakland. Fire department and paramedic first responders got the call just after 2 p.m. Wednesday.
Anthony Wilson, a witness at the scene who said he was the brother of the man living in the home, told KPIX 5 that the shooting was accidental. He said the child found the gun under a bed, played with the weapon and shot himself.
"Everybody was in the living room," Anthony Wilson, the suspect's brother, said. "The little boy went into the back of the room, crawled under his bed, and then we heard the gun go off."
Detectives, however, saw the shooting differently -- as a crime. Terrence Leavell Wilson faces felony charges of child abuse and possession of a firearm by a felon, and criminal firearm storage. He has six prior convictions for crimes including burglary and insurance fraud.
Anthony Wilson said he did not know why the gun wasn't in a secure location.
"It's supposed to be locked up," he told KPIX 5. "Everybody with common sense knows a gun's supposed to be locked up. I don't know what the situation is. I wasn't here."
A gofundme page has been set up for the boy and his mother.
"My four-year-old grandson got hold of a gun and shot himself in the head he is hospitalized in critical condition his mother cannot go to work at this time she needs to be by her son's bedside as he fights for his life we are raising money for Hospital expenses that insurance will not cover and living expenses since his mother my daughter will not be able to work," his grandfather Ramon Price posted.
Later on Thursday, Ramon Price spoke to KPIX 5.
"The person whose house it was took ownership of it. He told the police that it was indeed his gun and that my daughter did not know it was there. We're praying for him as well, because it's a tragedy all around."
KPIX 5 correspondents Devin Fehely and Christin Ayers contributed to this report
