Boy, 9, killed in apparent accidental shooting is identified
The child who died in what appeared to be an accidental shooting in St. Petersburg on Friday was a 9-year-old boy, according to police.
The boy was identified as Julian Ali, who died of a gunshot wound in his mother’s apartment at the Reserve at Lynn Lake Pointe on Lynn Lake Circle. Police were called after 5 p.m. Friday. Ali died at the scene.
In January, police issued a missing child alert for Ali. The alert said he had run away twice previously and was located by patrol officers each time. Yolanda Fernandez, public information officer for the St. Petersburg Police Department, said the boy had been running from his father’s apartment to his mother’s, and was located each time.
Ali’s mother was not home at the time of the shooting, but an adult relative and three teens were in the apartment. Detectives are still working to determine who owned the gun before deciding if charges will be filed. No further details were available about the circumstances that led to the shooting.
Less than 24 hours afterward, the sprawling apartment complex of blue and white buildings appeared quiet and showed no signs of police activity.
