Christmas shooting death under investigation

PORTALES — Classmates and teachers, along with family, were among those Friday evening mourning the Christmas Day death of seventh-grader Justin James “J.J.” King.

Letters of support for King’s family and memories of the 13-year old were presented at his memorial service last week, in addition to almost $2,000 in funds raised to help his family with burial and related costs, Portales Junior High School Principal Steve Harris said Tuesday.

In the first days back at school after winter break, school staff had grief counselors go through J.J.’s schedule and offer support for grieving peers and teachers, while also providing a presence upfront to “handle the information so that there weren’t guesses about what was going on,” Harris said.

Yet there are still questions on the circumstances and follow-up on the child’s passing. “All we know is it was a tragic accident involving a firearm,” Harris said.

A Portales Police Department report released on Monday details the early hours of a case PPD Det. Charlie Smart said Tuesday was still under investigation.

According to the report, officers were notified Dec. 25 around 5 p.m. of an individual with a self-inflicted gunshot wound on the 800 block of East Canadian Street. On arrival, officers spoke to a 24-year old man who said he was moving an air mattress inside the residence with the 13-year old victim, when they knocked a .22-caliber rifle off the shelf “causing the rifle to go off.”

The juvenile grabbed his head and went to the floor of the living room, the report reads.

“(The witness) said he went to check on (the juvenile) and saw the blood, it was at this point he got scared and took the 22 caliber rifle and threw it in the shed in the backyard,” the report reads. “When asked how the blood got on his hands he stated it was because he was holding (the juvenile’s) head when he called 911.”

In a Dec. 26 press release, Smart said of the investigation that “indicators are leading to an accidental discharge of the firearm.”

District Attorney Andrea Reeb said the Major Crimes Unit was not activated following the incident, but said Tuesday “there definitely needs to be an investigation as to what occurred in this case, whether this was an accident.”

“My understanding is that it’s still in the investigative stage (with PPD),” she said. “No paperwork or case filing or anything has been turned over to us yet.”

If any charges are to come from Reeb’s office, it will be after those documents are provided to them by police and staff can review them.

“As far as hiding a gun ... that will be looked at,” Reeb said.

Smart declined to comment any further Tuesday on the ongoing investigation.

King moved with his family to Portales from Ohio in 2013 and “enjoyed playing video games and making people laugh,” read his obituary.

“He had a heart of gold. J.J. could always see the best in people. Time spent with his family and friends was always precious to him.”

Attempts to talk with family were not successful on Tuesday.