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12-year-olds arrested for playing with gun, pointing at cars

Posted at 8:01 AM, Jul 13, 2022
and last updated 2022-07-13 08:01:02-04

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — A Volusia County family says they were out driving when two kids playing with a handgun pointed it at their car. The two children were later arrested in an incident recorded on police body cameras.

Barbara Traught said she left her house to run an errand when she saw the two boys. She later found out someone else had called 911 around the same time, reporting the two 12-year-olds pointing a gun at their car, which had three children inside.

The police body camera video shows a deputy later locating the two children in a wooded area near an abandoned property.

The deputy brings both kids to her patrol car. They deny having a weapon before she begins looking for it.

The gun and ammunition were located, and the boys were taken into custody.

Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood says this is just the latest incident in a troubling trend.

"We're seeing these young kids [getting] their hands on guns and they do stupid stuff," Chitwood said. "They think it's funny. This could have been a deadly situation.

"It just boggles my mind that these kids that that gunplay is acceptable."

Deputies are still trying to trace where the gun came from. Chitwood says charges could be filed against the person who let it get into the children's hands.