BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Authorities say a 16-year-old boy told police he accidentally shot a man with a rifle while a group of people were playing video games in Bethlehem.
Hezekiah Goodman is charged with criminal homicide, according to court paperwork.
Authorities said the shooting happened during a gathering inside a home on the 1100 block of Maple Street on Oct. 30, right before the city’s Halloween trick-or-treating. Officers responded to the scene around 5:30 p.m.
The Lehigh County Coroner said Jose Yapur De Los-Santos, 21, died two days after the shooting.
Bethlehem Police Capt. William Audelo said a group of four people in a bedroom were hanging out and playing video games before gunfire rang out.
Goodman told police the rifle was on the bed that the group was sitting on, court documents say.
According to court paperwork, Goodman said the rifle had been lying on the bed since he arrived at the home earlier in the afternoon.
Goodman said he picked up the rifle and he “accidentally shot it,” court paperwork says.
According to police, Goodman said he knew a magazine was in the rifle and that a magazine typically contains ammunition. He admitted to touching the rifle and the magazine, court documents say.
Goodman said he ran away from the home after the rifle went off because he was scared, but went back to the scene, according to court paperwork.
According to court documents, the incident was originally reported as a fight, but two people who were in the room told police nobody was arguing before the rifle went off.
Court documents say authorities later recovered the rifle at the home.
Capt. William Audelo said authorities determined that the firearm belonged neither to Goodman nor anyone that was in the room at the time it went off.
Goodman faces a preliminary hearing Nov. 17. He is in Northampton County Prison after his bail was denied, court documents say.
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