Tom Greenwood and Shawn D. Lewis

The Detroit News

Detroit — A man the police described as the stepfather of a 9-year-old boy who was shot to death Monday night has been taken into custody by police.

According to police, circumstances of the incident will be sent to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office for review of any charges.

The shooting occurred at about 8:56 p.m. in the 11200 block of Roxbury on the city’s east side, according to Detroit police Officer Adam Madera.

“The information we have is that the 9-year-old and a 14-year-old were in the basement playing with a gun,” Madera said.

“The gun went off and struck the 9-year-old. The stepfather, who is actually the boyfriend of the victim’s mother, had just left the home five minutes prior.”

No parents were in the home at the time of the shooting, just three teens, 17, 14 and 13, and the victim.

The 17-year-old heard the shot and ran downstairs, police said.

“He was transported by scout car to St. John’s Hospital where he was pronounced dead,” Madera said.

He said police recovered a shotgun, but it’s undetermined if it was the weapon fired. “We didn’t find any other weapons in the home,” Madera said.

“None of the other kids have been taken into custody or will be charged,” he said.

A Detroit News report in January found that in 2010, the last year for which statistics were available, the city had a homicide rate of 15.7 per 100,000 children through age 18 — the highest in the nation.

Around 500 Detroit children have died in homicides since 2000 including a 16-year-old who was accidentally shot in the head on Christmas Day while he and his friends were playing with a gun..

The city is on pace this year to record its fewest homicides since 1967. Homicides are hovering around 300 — a 6 percent drop from last year and the second-straight year of declines.

slewis@detroitnews.com

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