Adrian Osorio's 3-year-old son shot himself with an AR-15 he found under his parents' bed. The distraught father admitted to police he knew it was loaded. (Gwinnett Police)
SUGAR HILL, Ga. - The FOX 5 I-Team obtained body cam video that sheds new light on the decision to charge a Gwinnett father in the accidental shooting of his son.
Three-year-old Salvador Osorio survived after he shot himself with an AR-15 while playing under his parents' bed. Two veterans in the Gwinnett district attorney’s office lost their jobs when they disagreed with their boss' decision to indict the father.
Even the Gwinnett police detective thought the father should not be arrested, writing "it is reasonable to believe Adrian thought the (AR-15) was unloaded."
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Is dad liable for son finding loaded gun?
A Gwinnett County father has been charged in the accidental shooting of his 3-year-old son after the boy found his father's AR-15 while playing under his parents' bed. Two veterans in the DA's office lost their jobs when they disagreed with their boss' decision to indict the father.
Osorio also kept a shotgun and an AK-47 under his bed. Those were unloaded.
Managing Assistant District Attorney Courtney Spicer and investigator Benji Fennell wrote a memo to District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson, arguing Osorio should not be indicted for keeping the gun under his bed partly because "it cannot be proven that the subject knew it was loaded or who loaded it."
Spicer later resigned. Fennell refused to testify before the grand jury in the way Austin-Gatson wanted. He was fired and has since filed an appeal.
Osorio also kept a shotgun and AK-47 under his bed, both unloaded. Investigators did not recommend charges partly because they feared they couldn't prove Osorio knew the AR-15 was loaded. This video shows he did know. (Gwinnett Police)
Did Osorio know he had a loaded gun under his bed? And is it automatically a crime in Georgia to leave such a weapon in a place where children might find it?
Yes. And no.
According to Gwinnett police body cam reviewed by the FOX 5 I-Team, a detective interviewed Osorio on that Jan. 3, 2023 day after the landscaping company owner had rushed home.
Salvador and his sister had been playing hide and go seek. Every child’s go-to hiding place: under the bed.
The detective asked Osorio about those guns.
Detective: "You usually keep the guns loaded under the bed?"
Osorio: "I mean they have the clip there, but they never leave the chamber. I don't know. Maybe I forgot."
Detective: "So the AK, shotgun, AR, do you keep them loaded?"
Osorio: "I think the AR."
Detective: "The AR was loaded? OK."
"Two individuals in my office that decided there was no probable cause — none whatsoever — was untrue," Austin-Gatson told the FOX 5 I-Team.
Last month, a grand jury indicted Adrian Osorio on second degree felony cruelty to children and misdemeanor reckless conduct. He's free on bond.
Neither Spicer nor Fennell would comment on this new video. Neither would Gwinnett police or Osorio’s attorney.
A second reason cited for not wanting to prosecute: Osorio may have thought no one could fit under the bed which sat lower to the floor than usual.
The 26 states in yellow have laws requiring guns to be secured and away from children. Georgia considered such a law this year but it never came up for a vote.
The decision to prosecute would likely not have raised any questions if Georgia — like 26 other states — had a safe storage or child access prevention law (CAP). That list includes states like Texas which has long supported gun rights.
"We keep knives out of the reach of our children," said Jessie Ojeda, Guns and Democracy Attorney Fellow at the GIFFORDS Law Center. "Why are we not doing the same for literally a lethal weapon?"
The GIFFORDS Center was founded by Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords after she was nearly murdered by a crazed gunman. They push for laws that require gun owners be more responsible for where they leave their weapons.
Ojeda grew up in the same Michigan city where two parents were ultimately convicted for providing the gun their son used to murder four high school classmates. That state later passed safe storage and CAP laws.
"There is no better example of per se negligence," she said. "This is a piece of policy that we know has a real efficacy and has saved hundreds, if not thousands of lives of children across the country over the last two decades in states that have implemented these laws."
The Georgia House considered such a bill this year, but it never made it out of committee.
"We have a lot of hope and optimism for getting this legislation passed in the next few sessions," Ojeda said.
It’s a delay that makes no difference to how the Gwinnett DA sees child gun cases, especially this one.
"Well, I guess GA is playing catch-up because sometimes the law lags behind what people are actually dealing with in life," said Austin-Gatson.