A teenage boy in Florida has died one week after he was allegedly shot in the eye with a BB gun by an 8-year-old.
Ivan Johnson, 17, was taken off life support several days after he was shot at the Bank of America parking lot at 100 North Westshore Boulevard in Tampa, Florida, on February 1, reported Bay News 9.
Johnson was in the passenger seat of a vehicle along with an adult driver and an 8-year-old boy. The driver, who is the father of the boy, then got out to use an ATM and left Johnson in the car with the 8-year-old.
The boy is then alleged to have fired the BB gun from the back seat, hitting Johnson in the eye.
Johnson is believed to have known the 8-year-old and his father, but the rest of his family say they didn't know either of them until the 17-year-old was shot.
Tampa Bay Police are treating the incident as an accident, but the victim's family says someone needs to be held accountable.
"They started off saying it was an accident," Johnson's mother, Camisha Denny, told Bay News 9.
"I think that's more so because the guy said that he was his [Johnson's] father and he's not. We don't know the person at all. We saw him for the first time ever on that day."
Speaking to the Tampa Bay Times, Timothy Howard Jr., a friend of Johnson's family, said the 17-year-old had hopes of setting up his own landscaping company.
"He had everything planned out, he had his to-do list of goals and he was marking everything off the list," Howard said.
"Ivan was a good kid, he stayed out of trouble. He didn't put himself in dangerous situations.
"He wasn't running around the city playing with BB guns, doing dumb things like that," Howard added. "It was just really unexpected for the family."
Howard also set up a GoFundMe page to help pay for Johnson's funeral costs, which has so far raised more than $1,700.
In an update, Howard said that Johnson's organs have been donated following his death.
"Ivan left this world a superhero," Howard wrote. "In his final moments on earth, Ivan was able to change the lives of 9 children and their families.
"With this selfless act, Ivan's heart will beat on, his kidneys will purify blood and his other organs will help ensure a better quality of life for the young recipients."
The whereabouts of the 8-year-old boy and his father are unknown.
The Tampa Bay Police department has been contacted for comment.
