Oakley, CA – On March 29, 2026 at 9:25 PM, the Oakley Police Department was sent to the 1700 block of Hemlock Court for what was initially reported as an adult male who accidentally shot himself while cleaning his guns.
While officers were enroute, the call was updated to reflect it was actually a five-year-old boy that had been shot in the chest. Our police officers arrived at 9:28 PM and the fire department and AMR ambulance services arrived shortly thereafter.
When our officers arrived, the father of the child was holding him and applying pressure to the wound. The child was transported to the hospital via helicopter and after surgery, is expected to make a full recovery.
Oakley Police Detectives were called to the scene to determine what happened. The father of the boy was cooperative with the detectives and he said he had been in the process of cleaning his firearms. The father retrieved an AR-15 style semi-automatic rifle from a gun case and in doing so, he accidentally pulled the trigger. The rifle discharged and a bullet struck his son at close range in the torso. The father thought the rifle was empty. A search warrant was authored and all firearms were removed from the residence along with several pieces of evidence.
At this time, Oakley PD does not think there was any intent behind this shooting, but this incident is still under active investigation. Once complete, the investigation will be sent to the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office to determine if any criminal charges will be filed.
Chief Beard said of this incident “This was a very tragic event that occurred. As we have learned more about what happened, we now know the gunshot wound suffered by the five-year-old boy was a grazing wound and not a penetrating wound. Even a graze however, from a rifle-fired bullet can cause devastating injuries. We are very thankful the injuries sustained by the boy are not worse than they are; an inch of difference of where the bullet struck the boy would have been a different, and more tragic, outcome. Even though we believe this to be an awful accident, some crucial errors of negligence were made. Firearms should always be treated as if they are loaded and one should never put a finger on the trigger of a firearm unless there is an intent to shoot it.
We will submit our entire investigation to the District Attorney’s Office to explore criminal charges. For now we are grateful our young resident will make a recovery and we wish him well moving forward. Stay safe Oakley.”
No other information was released.
