6-year-old shot, killed while playing video games in bed, police say

LYNCHBURG, Va. (WDBJ/Gray News) - Community members have planned a vigil for a 6-year-old boy who was struck by a bullet and killed while in his bed.

Police said they responded to a call for shots fired at an address in Lynchburg, Virginia at about 11 p.m. Monday.

Video footage found during the police investigation shows several people ambushing the occupied home with gunfire before running down the street.

Police reported that 6-year-old Kingston was in his bed playing video games at the time of the shooting. Officers said he had died before they arrived at the scene.

GRAPHIC WARNING: The video in this story includes content that some may find disturbing.

Kingston’s stepfather Hugh Oulds is struggling to come to terms with what happened.

“How would you feel if that was your son? If you had woke up in the middle of the night, you don’t have power, and you didn’t even know that your own son was laying in the house, suffering?” Oulds said.

Oulds said he can’t begin to imagine life without Kingston. Oulds described him as a normal kid who loved to eat McDonald’s Happy Meals and play video games.

“I’m still trying to figure out what I’m going to do tomorrow whenever I go to sleep and I don’t hear him say my name,” Oulds said. “Or when I come through the house and he’s not there to ask me to turn on Fortnite.”

Oulds said it’s heartbreaking that kids aren’t allowed to be kids anymore.

“Be kids and have fun. And be able to come outside and play and not have to worry about stuff,” he said. “But you can’t even do that, because who knows what’s going on outside. And your kids might get hit by a stray bullet because of somebody else’s drama or what else is going on.”

Kingston is the third juvenile killed in Lynchburg since the start of the new year.

Anti-violence group Lynchburg Peacemakers said the violence has to stop.

“The community is gonna come out and we’re going to have to push back. And that’s what it’s gonna have to take for us to stop this senseless violence,” the group’s president, Shawn Hunter, said. “We got babies dying. So, if the babies are dying asleep, can you imagine, all of us are at risk.”

Oulds is scared his son will go without justice if neighbors don’t speak up.

“Yeah, it’s the same old story. It don’t matter if it’s here or another place or wherever it’s at. Wherever it happens at, it’s always the same old story. Somebody gets shot, nothing happens because nobody is going to say anything,” Oulds said.

One Community, One Voice will host a vigil in Kingston’s honor Wednesday night at 6 p.m. at Greater Peaceful Baptist Church in Lynchburg.

The Peacemakers helped the family pay for a hotel and are collecting food for the family. Anyone who would like to help the family is asked to contact Lynchburg Peacemakers or donate online.

No arrests have been made at this time in connection to the shooting. However, police said early Tuesday there was no active threat to the community.

In a released statement, Lynchburg police called Kingston’s death a “senseless tragedy stemming from a violent criminal act that has no place in our community.”

They also asked members of the community to come forward with any information they have regarding the shooting, stating that Kingston and his family “deserve nothing less.”

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call police at 434-455-6155 or Crime Stoppers at 888-798-5900. Anonymous tips can be submitted online at P3Tips.com or by using the P3 app on a mobile device.

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