KANSAS CITY, Mo — The family of a Kansas City teen is trying to make sense of a shooting that happened inside their home over the weekend.
The mother of 16-year-old Derrick White Jr. said her son was inside a back room of their home with a friend when she heard a gunshot.
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Moments later, her son ran to her saying he’d been shot. White died in the home.
“It’s hard. It’s hard to accept this,” Jill Fristoe, White's mother, said. “He was one of a kind. He had a big heart, like he was real known.”
Friends said the teen, who went by Tink, would not miss an opportunity to talk to people and show off his personality.
“Tink was just full of happiness,” said Calise Garcia, a friend of White's. “It happens to a lot of these little kids out here. It’s so sad. The people that are closest to you, you don’t think it will happen to them. It was kind of unbelievable when I got the call.”
Police said their initial investigation is leading them to believe the shooting was accidental.
White’s father, Derrick White Sr., also died from gun violence in 2019. His mother said she is now supporting Jill Fristoe in her time of healing.
“I know how Jill feels. And I wanted her to know I was here for her. I know the feeling," Diane Miller said. “When I heard about the gun, that took me to another level because they went away the same kind of way, through gun violence.”
White Jr.’s family set up a GoFundMe for his memorial.
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