Royale Spencer was 9 when he was killed at a friend’s home in the Stonegate Mobile Home Park in Wichita, Kansas, on the morning of January 21, 2019. The boys found a metal gun safe with a malfunctioning lock and opened it. Inside were three long guns, including a .410 gauge shotgun. An 11-year-old friend handled the shotgun and, not knowing it was loaded with live ammunition, pulled the trigger. A single slug struck Royale in the face.

Paramedics were dispatched around 8:30 a.m. to a home in the 2200 block of East MacArthur; Royale was pronounced dead at the scene from a gunshot wound to the head. Four other children were in the home at the time, including Royale’s 16-year-old brother. The Sedgwick County District Attorney later concluded the shooting was a tragic accident and did not file criminal charges against the 11-year-old or the gun owner.

Who in the community has information about how the firearm came to be stored there or about safety measures in that household?