Inset: Robert Giles (Manatee County Sheriff”s Office). Background: The residential area near where Giles’ handgun was allegedly found by a 9-year-old in Palmetto, Fla. (Google Maps).
A Florida man has been arrested after a tragic incident involving a firearm left unsecured, which resulted in a 9-year-old boy accidentally shooting a 5-year-old boy in the chest, according to state law enforcement officials.
Robert Giles, 36, faces charges of culpable negligence for allegedly leaving a gun accessible to a minor, as per Manatee County court documents reviewed by Law&Crime.
The incident was reported on March 25 at a home situated on 57th Street East in Palmetto, a small community approximately 15 miles north of Sarasota, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office stated.
Authorities were summoned to the scene following reports of a “shooting with injuries,” according to an arrest warrant reviewed by Law&Crime. Inside the residence, they reportedly discovered the younger boy suffering from a gunshot wound to his upper chest.
The official report details that the bullet traveled through the child’s body, impacting his clavicle, puncturing a lung, and exiting the body.
The investigation revealed that Giles’ son found the firearm in the main bedroom and inadvertently discharged it, hitting another boy, not related by last name, in the chest.
But the older boy was not even looking for a gun.
“[Giles son] stated he entered his father’s bedroom while searching for Pokemon pens,” the warrant complaint goes on. “While searching, he located a firearm on the floor under the bed.”
When Giles himself spoke with deputies he said the gun — identified as a Canik 9 mm; the model is not mentioned — had been stored in a nightstand next to his bed, according to the sheriff’s office.
The defendant also said the gun had been stored with “a round in the chamber but without a magazine inserted,” deputies say.
The father allegedly further told the responding deputies that he was in the kitchen when “he heard a loud ‘pop’” and then discovered the younger child had been shot in his chest near his right shoulder.
The defendant then “stated he subsequently secured the firearm by placing it in a safe,” according to the charging document.
During an ensuing search of the house, “blood was observed in the hallway, appearing to originate from the primary bedroom,” according to the warrant. The bullet was found to have traveled through a wall of the bedroom, into an outer wall, and out of the residence.
Investigators found the gun when the defendant opened the safe.
“Inside the residence, a large gun safe was located in a secured condition,” the charging document reads. “Upon opening the safe, deputies observed a Canik 9mm handgun lying on a shelf with a magazine next to it. Multiple additional firearms were also present inside the safe. This safe was within the same room in which the shooting occurred, and within ten feet of where [Giles’ son] located the firearm.”
The gun was collected as evidence after investigators determined a spent casing was still in the chamber, the warrant notes.
“The firearm was not secured in a manner that would prevent access by a minor,” the charging document continues. “[Giles son] described in his interview to have located the firearm under the bed and mentioned nothing about removing it from holster or any other secured location.”
The warrant says the accidental discharge of the gun caused “serious bodily injury” to the 5-year-old and elaborates to say that he “was intubated for approximately five days and remains hospitalized while recovering from his injuries.”
The defendant was arrested in early April and booked in the Manatee County Jail. He subsequently posted $2,500 bond and was released.
On Friday, Giles appeared in court and entered a not guilty plea.
The defendant’s next court date is not yet scheduled.
