A 17-year-old aspiring rapper tragically lost his life on Sunday, May 15th, after accidentally shooting himself while recording a video for social media.
Although the police haven’t disclosed the deceased individual’s name, social media footage suggests that the Suffolk-based rapper Rylo Huncho was involved.
The video shows Huncho singing and dancing while handling a handgun equipped with a laser sight. In a disturbing moment, he appears to point the firearm toward his head, and a gunshot is heard before the camera falls, leaving no additional details.
17 year old Virginia rapper #RyloHuncho fatally sh*t himself in the head while playing with a g*n on TikTok live 😢🕊️ pic.twitter.com/ihqAtq203x
— MadChill TV (@madChillTV1) May 18, 2024
While authorities are still investigating the incident, all signs point to it being an accidental act. The community is grieving, and a GoFundMe page has been set up to assist Huncho’s mother during this challenging period.
“He was her only son!” A cousin of the rapper wrote in the post. “She was a single parent but took care of her son the best she could.”
According to the cousin, “We’re still trying to determine whether it was suicide or an accident. But any assistance, no matter how small, would be greatly appreciated during this difficult time.” “It was always her and her son.”
The impact of gun culture on children and teenagers in the United States is a complex issue. According to a Pew Research Centre analysis of the most recent annual mortality data from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), firearms are the primary cause of death for children and teens.
In 2021, 2,590 individuals under the age of 18 lost their lives to gun violence, marking a 46% increase from 2019.
In 2021, the CDC reported that 54% of gun-related deaths in the United States were suicides (26,328), while 43% were homicides (20,958).
The remaining gun deaths fell into categories such as accidents (549), law enforcement involvement (537), or undetermined circumstances (458).
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