Nine-year-old Christopher Prime Time Bernard (listed also as Christopher Bernard Scott III in some reports) died on December 19, 2022, in the Hopkins area of lower Richland County, South Carolina, of a gunshot wound. The Richland County Coroner’s Office initially classified the death as a homicide, and the Richland County Sheriff’s Department opened an investigation.

Investigators later concluded the shooting was accidental. Authorities say Christopher and another child found a firearm inside a vehicle; while the children were playing with the gun it discharged, fatally wounding the nine-year-old. The sheriff’s office announced no criminal charges would be filed and urged the community to secure firearms to prevent similar tragedies.

Does anyone in the Hopkins area have information about where the firearm may have come from or about firearm storage issues in that neighborhood?