11-year-old held in death liked to hunt

WAMPUM, Pa. (AP) — Hunting is a way of life in the rural area where 11-year-old Jordan Brown regularly practiced target shooting with his 20-gauge, youth-model shotgun.

Here in Western Pennsylvania, hunting clubs are plentiful, the first day of deer hunting season means a day off from school, and turkey shoots are held year-round. A month ago, Brown won a turkey at a local shoot against older, more experienced hunters.

Days later, police believe Brown used the shotgun he planned to take hunting with his dad to fatally shoot his father’s pregnant girlfriend. The crime was an anomaly in this small town, where guns are commonplace and children as young as 4 are taught to shoot.

In many states, including Pennsylvania, children of any age can fire a rifle or shotgun and hunt with a licensed adult. Rifles and shotguns do not need to be registered or sold with trigger locks.

States often don’t mandate how rifles and shotguns should be stored but do require hunting courses that teach how to store them.

Authorities believe Brown kept his gun, a Christmas present from his dad, in his bedroom. The boy has been charged as an adult with killing Kenzie Marie Houk, 26, and her unborn son Feb. 20 in an attack police say was planned: Jordan hid the weapon under a blanket so Houk’s 7-year-old daughter wouldn’t see it as he entered her mother’s room. Later, he threw the spent shell casing in the woods, got on the bus and went to school, authorities say.

“It’s one thing to learn to hunt, but it’s another thing to let a kid keep a loaded shotgun,” said Paul Helmke, president of the Washington-based Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. “If you are keeping loaded guns around the house and you have kids, you’re asking for a tragedy,” he said.