The Tribune

By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

POLICE will not press charges against the relatives of the 11-year-old boy who was shot dead last month, Assistant Commissioner of Police Anthony Ferguson said yesterday.

Speaking with The Tribune, ACP Ferguson said police investigated the shooting as an accident and now the case file has been transferred to the coroner to determine the circumstances surrounding the shooting.

The boy, Craig Newton, was shot and killed in Andros as he and his nine-year-old cousin were playing with a shotgun on November 22. Police said the victim was at his cousin’s home at the time of the shooting.

ACP Ferguson said police are not charging the juvenile with anything and police have also decided not to charge any of the adults with neglect.

Initial reports indicated that the children were home alone at the time of the shooting.

“There is nothing else the police can do but await the outcome of the coroner’s inquest,” ACP Ferguson said. “We have to wait on the results of that inquiry. The coroner will conduct an investigation to determine whether or not the case will go further, if anyone is criminally responsible and what the circumstances are surrounding the matter.”

Last year, a 12-year-old boy was killed and his 11-year-old brother was taken to hospital after they were both shot while playing with a shotgun in Nassau Village.

According to preliminary reports, the boys’ father left the gun on a bed in a room where the two children were and went outside to get something from his car.

The victim received a gunshot wound to his side and his younger brother received injuries to his right leg.

The boys were taken to hospital by a private vehicle, but the 12-year-old died a short time after his arrival.

The 11-year-old survived the shooting.

No charges were filed in that incident.