Shooting in Cumberland marks second Marion County juvenile killed accidentally in last 9 days

CUMBERLAND, Ind. — Police have now identified 12-year-old Jeremiah Cotton as the juvenile who was shot and killed at an apartment complex in Cumberland Friday morning.

Police tape, a crime scene unit and flashing blue and red lights occupied the parking lot outside the apartments on the 11500 block of Dunshire Drive in Cumberland at 1 a.m. Friday.

Inside one of the apartments, Cumberland PD found Cotton with a gunshot wound to the head. 

”This is a terrible thing. No mother should have to bury her 12-year-old,” said CPD Detective Sgt. Mark Waggoner.

Waggoner said Cotton was with four teenagers in the apartment. The oldest was 18 years old.

”A 16-year-old brought the gun into the apartment,” Waggoner said. “Seems they were all passing it around, Jeremiah picks it up at one point and it goes off.”

Waggoner said it was an accidental shooting. Police said the leaseholder of the apartment was not home at the time of the shooting.

No charges have been filed yet, but the investigation is ongoing. Cumberland PD is still working to find out where this 16-year-old got the gun.

”We’re going to work with our federal partners to track that gun, see if we can find where it came from, if it’s been used in anything else,” Waggoner said. “Right now, we just don’t know where that gun belongs.”

It’s the second accidental shooting to kill a juvenile in the last nine days in Marion County. 

On June 19, 2-year-old Javarius Bickett got his hands on a gun in a car in a CVS parking lot near 46th St and Keystone. The child accidentally shot himself and later died. 

So far, no charges have been filed in the case, but IMPD is still investigating.

“You have to do better if you’re a gun owner to safely store your firearms,” said IMPD Officer Drew Brown.

In the eyes of police, these are completely preventable tragedies that just require gun owners to be more responsible with their weapons and talk to their children about gun safety.

You can get a free gun lock, no questions asked, from the Cumberland Police Department or any Indianapolis Public Library branch.