A six-year-old boy, Malachi Copeland, died after being found with a single gunshot wound to the head at a residence on the 1800 block of South Garvin Street in Evansville, Indiana. He was taken to a local hospital and succumbed to his injuries on September 4, 2022; the Vanderburgh County Coroner’s Office and Evansville Police Department conducted an autopsy that confirmed the gunshot wound as the cause of death.

Early investigative reports describe the shooting as a tragic accident: investigators believe Malachi came across a loaded handgun and unintentionally discharged it. At the time of the initial reports no arrests had been made and no suspects were publicly identified, and police continued to focus on how the child accessed the firearm. Malachi was a first-grader at Joshua Academy, remembered by the school as energetic and bright.

If anyone knew Malachi, his routines, or has information about how a firearm came to be accessible at that residence, please share what you know with investigators.