After fatal shooting of toddler, Kentucky town grieves and hushes up
Kristian, 5, shot and killed his 2-year-old sister with a gun marketed for children as "My First Rifle" in what authorities said was an accident.
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There were strong emotions directed at the outside world, which has been quick to pass judgment on the parents and a way of life in which many see nothing unusual about introducing children to firearms while they are still in kindergarten. Anne Beall, a 64-year-old retiree, said she had not heard anyone in town call the parents irresponsible for giving a gun to a 5-year-old or for leaving it unlocked. After the funeral service, two men advanced across North Main Street toward a single television crew present, from the German network RTL, and punched the cameraman, bloodying his face and knocking him down. Two other men told a newspaper reporter, "If you had any sense, you'd get out of here. You're next, buddy." Kristian's gun, a .22-caliber single-shot Crickett rifle designed for children and sold in pink and blue. After the shooting, the Crickett's maker, Keystone Sporting Arms in Milton, Pa., deleted a Web page promoting it, but archived images show the company featured a "kids corner" with dozens of pictures of young children and their Cricketts at shooting ranges and out hunting. Their Chipmunks rifles.
Kristian, 5, shot and killed his 2-year-old sister with a gun marketed for children as "My First Rifle" in what authorities said was an accident.
here
There were strong emotions directed at the outside world, which has been quick to pass judgment on the parents and a way of life in which many see nothing unusual about introducing children to firearms while they are still in kindergarten. Anne Beall, a 64-year-old retiree, said she had not heard anyone in town call the parents irresponsible for giving a gun to a 5-year-old or for leaving it unlocked. After the funeral service, two men advanced across North Main Street toward a single television crew present, from the German network RTL, and punched the cameraman, bloodying his face and knocking him down. Two other men told a newspaper reporter, "If you had any sense, you'd get out of here. You're next, buddy." Kristian's gun, a .22-caliber single-shot Crickett rifle designed for children and sold in pink and blue. After the shooting, the Crickett's maker, Keystone Sporting Arms in Milton, Pa., deleted a Web page promoting it, but archived images show the company featured a "kids corner" with dozens of pictures of young children and their Cricketts at shooting ranges and out hunting. Their Chipmunks rifles.
