Vincent “Vinnie” Colonna, 14, and his father were at the Gun World Shooting Range, located in Deerfield Beach, on Thursday afternoon. The teenager shot himself in what is believed to be a suicide.
Shortly after the shooting incident the Broward Sheriff’s Office and Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue sent personnel to the indoor shooting range on Powerline Road in Deerfield Beach. Broward Sheriff’s Office sent a rescue helicopter to rush Vinnie to Broward Health Medical Center but he did not survive. Now an investigation is ongoing into the incident.
An investigation is underway after a teen's apparent suicide at a Florida shooting range. https://t.co/vkgP1tlNpQ
— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) July 1, 2017
Family struggles with the teenager’s apparent suicide at the shooting range
The boy’s father told the New York Daily News that he was with Vinnie at the shooting range when the shooting happened, but doesn’t know how it happened. He said he was sitting down at the time and the next thing he knew, Vinnie was lying on the floor.
As reported by CBS Miami, shortly after the incident, Ana Rosen and Henrietta Colonna, the teenager’s grandmothers, reportedly hurried to the scene. In an interview with CBS, Colonna, who is Vinnie’s paternal grandmother, said she had asked the teen not to go to the shooting range.
However, Vinnie reportedly loved going to the shooting range and told her he wanted to go “one more time.” Colonna went on to say Vinnie was “always careful” so she didn't understand what happened. Rosen is particularly struggling to cope with the loss of the teenager, as she recently lost a daughter and her grandson who meant everything to her.
Gun World shooting range has strict rules
According to the New York Daily News, Gun World is a new and state-of-the-art shooting range and users follow strict rules. All shooters must be 13 years of age or older and anyone under 18 years of age must be accompanied by a parent at all times, anywhere on the range. Shooters are also asked to sign a release waiver.
CBS reported they have been unable to determine if the waiver had been signed in Vinnie’s case.
Broward Sheriff’s Office will now investigate the incident to determine if the matter should be handed over to the Broward State Attorney and to establish whether the father was at fault in the shooting.
Gun World posted to Facebook after the incident saying how life is precious and how bad it is to lose a child. The owner, Kim Waltuch, wrote saying she and her staff offered the family their sympathy for their loss. Waltuch told the Daily News that it was a “very sad situation.”
