6-year-old shot and killed while playing in bed; vigil planned
LYNCHBURG, Va. (WDBJ) - It was around 11 p.m. Monday when Lynchburg Police responded to a shots fired call.
6-year-old Kingston was lying in his bed at home on Floyd Street. He was playing video games when he was struck with gunfire.
“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?” asked Kingston’s stepfather Hugh Oulds.
Video footage seized during this investigation shows several people firing guns into the occupied home before running down Floyd Street toward 17th Street. Anyone able to identify the people in the below video is asked to contact LPD.
(WARNING: This video may be considered graphic.)
Police say when they arrived, Kingston was already dead. Oulds can’t even begin to imagine life without him.
“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,” explained Oulds. “Or I come through the house and he’s not there to ask me to turn on Fortnite.”
Law enforcement said, “The murder of this child is a senseless tragedy stemming from a violent criminal act.”
Oulds says it’s heartbreaking kids aren’t allowed to be kids anymore.
“That all kids want to do is just simply be kids and have fun and be able to come outside and play and not have to worry about some, but you can’t even do that,” added Oulds. “‘Cause 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.”
Anti-violence group Lynchburg Peacemakers says the violence has to stop. Kingston is the third juvenile killed in Lynchburg since the start of the new year.
“The community is gonna come out and we going to have to push back and that’s what it’s gonna have to take for us to stop this senseless violence,” said Peacemakers President Shawn Hunter. “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,” said Oulds.
One Community One Voice will host a vigil in Kingston’s honor Wednesday night. It will be 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 they can donate here.
No one has been arrested. Police said early Tuesday there was no active threat to the community.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact Detective T. Hall 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.
Lynchburg PD released the following statement:
The murder of this child is a senseless tragedy stemming from a violent criminal act that has no place in our community. The LPD strives to partner with and protect our residents and visitors daily. To effectively do so, we need those members of our community who have knowledge about criminal activity such as this to come forward. The victim and his family deserve nothing less.
Our thoughts are with all those impacted by this tragedy.
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