In a quiet mobile home park in Wichita, Kansas, the life of a 9-year-old Black male named Royale Spencer was tragically cut short on the morning of January 21, 2019. What began as a day of play with a friend turned into a devastating accident that would forever alter the lives of two families.
On that Monday morning, while at a friend's home in the Stonegate Mobile Home Park, Royale and an 11-year-old friend came across a metal gun safe.
Believing the firearms inside to be BB guns, the two boys managed to open the safe, which had a malfunctioning lock. Inside, they found three long guns, including a. 410 gauge shotgun. The boys, thinking they were playing with harmless toys, handled the weapons. The 11-year-old, not knowing the shotgun was loaded with a live round, pulled the trigger, and a single slug struck Royale in the face.
Emergency services were called to the home in the 2200 block of East MacArthur around 8:30 a.m. Paramedics arrived to find a harrowing scene and pronounced Royale dead at the scene from a gunshot wound to the head. Initially, there was confusion about what had transpired, with the 911 caller stating they didn't think it was a real gun. There were four other children in the home at the time of the shooting, including Royale's 16-year-old brother.
The subsequent investigation by the Wichita Police Department delved into the circumstances of the shooting. The Sedgwick County District Attorney ultimately determined that the shooting was a tragic accident. As a result, no criminal charges were filed against the 11-year-old boy who fired the weapon, nor against the owner of the gun. The District Attorney's report concluded that there was no evidence to suggest the 11-year-old knew the weapon was a real, loaded shotgun or had any intent to cause harm to his friend. The case was closed without any arrests, leaving a community to mourn the loss of a young boy in a heartbreaking incident.
