BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK/KBFX) A shooting in southeast Bakersfield on Saturday night left a 16-year-old boy dead and three other juveniles injured, as investigators with the Kern County Sheriff’s Office work to identify a suspect.
RELATED: 16-year-old boy killed, three others hurt after shooting on East Pacheco Road
A neighbor described hearing what they initially thought was something else.
“We thought it was our neighbors out there with their horses,” the neighbor said.
“Come to find out that’s not what it was. We heard the gunshots.”
Bakersfield shooting kills 16-year-old boy, injures 3 other juveniles, sheriff says (KNN.NEWS)
The sheriff’s office is still investigating and has not identified a suspect.
Another neighbor said the location had not previously been a problem.
“They’ve had quite a few parties there and never once had they had any issues,” the neighbor said.
The shooting comes as Kern County has seen a string of teen-involved shootings over the last several months, raising questions about how local youth are getting access to guns.
Tommy Tunson, a professor of criminal justice at Bakersfield College, said he believes access often starts at home.
“The primary way that I believe is through parents and through the home,” Tunson said.
Bakersfield shooting kills 16-year-old boy, injures 3 other juveniles, sheriff says (KNN.NEWS)
Tunson said it is not unusual for teens to access their parents’ guns when they are not properly stored.
“And I’ve seen much more of that in the last probably – I don’t know – five years than I have in a very long time – of the access to obtaining a weapon,” he said.
Tunson emphasized the importance of securing firearms when children are in the house.
Bakersfield shooting kills 16-year-old boy, injures 3 other juveniles, sheriff says (KNN.NEWS)
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“And that’s the accountability that I talk about that parents should have because they owe that duty of care to their children and to the neighborhood and to society in general,” he said.