Published Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017 | 2:49 p.m.
Updated Saturday, Sept. 2, 2017 | 2:24 p.m.
A round accidentally discharged while a man was handling a gun this morning, striking and killing his grandmother who was sleeping in another room of an east valley house, according to Metro Police.
Detectives have deemed the shooting an accident and are trying to determine how the bullet went off, Metro Sgt. Matthew Sanford said in a briefing broadcast online.
It appears like the 19-year-old man may have been trying to clear round from the chamber when the gun went off, Sanford said. Investigators will be testing the weapon to see if it malfunctioned.
Officers and medical crews responded to a call from the man who said his grandmother had been shot at about 9:10 a.m. and was bleeding in a house in the 6800 block of Fallona Avenue, near Lake Mead and Hollywood Boulevards.
The round went through two walls before striking the woman, Sanford said.
The woman died shortly after arriving at University Medical Center, Sanford said.
The man was distraught, but cooperating with detectives, Sanford said. The case will be turned over to the Clark County District Attorney’s Office for review, but as of this afternoon, charges will not be filed.
