(Image source from: kennesawattorney.net)

A teen was accidentally killed in a shooting on Thursday. The killed teen identified as 16 year old Eddie Vargas, went out despite his  mother told him not to go, but he insisted and went out on Thursday afternoon.

Hours later the family found that Eddie was killed in an accidental shooting while hanging out with his group of friends at a nearby house. The shooter was from the group itself and Eddie died on the spot.

"It just hurts," Vargas's classmate Luis Ponce said. While for his funeral expenses his friends and family have been washing cars to gather money. Ponce also stated, "I wish he was still here."

The witnesses initially said the victim killed himself by shooting but further investigations led the police to unraveling the killing. An 18 year old Jose Heredia-Garcia was detained as he was believed to be playing with a gun just before this incident. And he eventually ended up shooting Eddie accidentally which led to his death.

According to their friends, Heredia-Garcia and Vargas attended the same Peoria Accelerated High School. Later Heredia-Garcia was arrested, police charged him in a statement issued, “on suspicion of manslaughter and possession of a weapon by a prohibited person Thursday”.

No additional details are provided by Police at this point, while further investigation is still underway.

Ponce also described Vargas as "a cool guy" who everyone at school "was just cool with."

“We often played video games together after school”, he said. And the same day of killing, they both talked in the morning about going to buy Nike Air Force shoes.

Lorrisa Vargas, one of Eddie Vargas's five siblings, described Eddie  as the "life of the party." She said “he would always joke around with friends and family”

This death of a teen again highlights the discrepancy in gun-law reforms that have long causes accidental fatal shootings among minors.

“Accidental shootings in the U.S. increased from 1,608 in 2014 to 2,203 in 2016” , according to the Gun Violence Archive which is a non-profit record of shootings through media reports and as stated by law-enforcement officials.

So far in the year 2017 there have been 1,875 accidental shootings

The family has also started a GoFundMe page to help with funeral expenses in addition to proceeding with car washes.

By Minu Manisha