New Details Emerge in Fatal Shooting of Arizona Firing Range Instructor by Girl, 9, Learning to Use Uzi

The Mohave County Sheriff’s Department provided this photo of Charles Vacca, an instructor at a shooting range in White Hills, Ariz., showing a 9-year-old girl how to use an Uzi in this still from a video of the fatal lesson on Aug. 26, 2014.

by: Los Angeles Times

Posted: Sep 3, 2014 / 05:14 AM PDT

Updated: Sep 3, 2014 / 05:14 AM PDT

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

The mother of a 9-year-old girl who accidentally killed her gun instructor while learning to fire an Uzi told sheriff’s deputies that the weapon was “too much for her” daughter and that it hurt the girl’s shoulder, according to a report released Tuesday by the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office.

The girl’s father told a deputy that he, his wife and three children arrived at Last Stop in White Hills, Ariz., around 9:45 a.m. Aug. 25 and took a ride in a monster truck before being brought to the establishment’s Burgers and Bullets shooting range, the report said.

According to the report: The father said he shot the gun first. Then, instructor Charles Vacca began showing the girl how to fire the Uzi. After she fired off “a couple of rounds,” her father said, he suddenly heard several rounds fire and saw her drop the gun. She was holding her shoulder, so the family thought she was injured and crowded around her without realizing Vacca had been hit, he said.

The girl’s mother told a deputy that her daughter said the Mini-Uzi “was too much for her and it hurt her shoulder,” according to the report.

Click here to read the full story on LATimes.com.