NANTICOKE, Pa. — A teenaged boy hospitalized Sunday in Luzerne County with a gunshot wound in his chest has died, Nanticoke Police Chief Michael Roke said.
Police on Monday identified the teenager as Hunter Sipple, 17. An autopsy is scheduled Tuesday.
He was shot around 4 p.m. Sunday at a home along Minden Court.
According to a copy of a search warrant filed in the investigation, an 18-year-old witness gave investigators differing accounts of how the gun went off. The 18-year-old first said it discharged by falling off of a shelf onto the living room floor. Later, he said the gun fired while he was "fooling around" with the weapon, according to the search warrant.
Roke said investigators believe the incident was accidental, but he stressed it remains under investigation.
A neighbor told Newswatch 16 on Sunday he investigated a commotion coming from the street and witnessed the teen bleeding from his chest and screaming for help.
With 911 dialed, first responders attempted to save the teenager. Wrappings from bandages littered the ground near where blood stained the pavement. Neighbors said the injured boy was pale white when an ambulance sped him away.
A GoFundMe campaign has been established to help Sipple's family defray funeral costs.