On the evening of February 12, 2020, in a residence near 35th and Hamilton Streets in Omaha, Nebraska, 15-year-old Sylas Lieb, a male, was fatally shot. Police were called to the home around 7:15 p.m. and found the teenager deceased from a gunshot wound to his chest. At the time of the incident, Lieb, a sophomore at Omaha Central High School, was with his 14-year-old friend and an 18-year-old.
The group had reportedly been smoking marijuana throughout the day.
The ensuing investigation led to the arrest of the 14-year-old, an eighth-grader, who was booked into the Douglas County Youth Center on suspicion of manslaughter. According to the 14-year-old's account, he had discovered a 9mm firearm at a laundromat a week prior to the shooting. He claimed the gun discharged accidentally while he was cleaning it on his lap, striking Lieb in the chest. Investigators learned that the 14-year-old had a habit of pointing the firearm at people.
Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine described the shooting as unintentional, which led to the manslaughter charge against the 14-year-old. At the time of the shooting, the young suspect was already on probation for truancy and had admitted to being affiliated with a gang. In the wake of the tragedy, Omaha Central High School made grief counselors available to support students and staff coping with the loss of their classmate.
