16-Year-Old Dies After Being Shot on Christmas By A Friend Playing With Handgun

A Detroit teenager, Bernard Walker, 16, was taken off life support and died due to a gunshot wound caused by a friend playing with a handgun, police said.

According to WJBK reports, Walker, was in a home in the neighborhood of Petosky-Otsego on Christmas Day, when two friends arrived, one carrying a loaded weapon.

Police say the friends started playing around with the gun in the basement, when the 19-year-old pulled the trigger, firing a shot that struck Bernard in the head.

The teen was rushed to nearby Henry Ford Hospital, where he was put on a ventilator. He was removed from life support and died Friday afternoon.

The station reports that a neighbor called Bernard a 'good kid,' and his mother, Theresa Culbert, described having to watch her son slip away.

'He wasn't really doing good at all,' Culbert said. 'Just basically had to watch his brain die.'

Both of Bernard's friends were taken into custody by police.

Detroit Police Department spokesperson Jennifer Moreno told Detroit News police are holding the 19-year-old and will seek charges in connection to Bernard's death.

Though the decision is up to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, Officer Moreno said the charge would likely be manslaughter or second-degree murder.