Twelve-year-old Caiden Connor Smith died after an accidental shooting at his grandmother’s home in the Cedar Grove neighborhood of Shreveport, Louisiana, on Saturday, August 9, 2025. He was helping his older brother with cleaning when the firearm discharged. Emergency services took Caiden to Ochsner LSU Health, where he died shortly after 9 p.m.

The family described the loss as a heartbreaking accident. They were already under strain: Caiden’s grandmother was terminally ill with stomach cancer, and the family was still mourning Caiden’s father, who was killed in a shooting in 2020. Authorities determined the shooting was accidental and made no arrests.

If anyone was in Cedar Grove that evening or has information about the circumstances of the shooting, please share what you know.