Family to push for locks on guns
12-year-old boy died from shooting injuries.
12-year-old Luther boy died from shooting injuries

By Monica Albert

Published: July 10, 2008

LUTHER — Family members of a Luther boy killed by a friend playing with a loaded handgun said the family knows the friend did not mean for the shooting to happen.

John Luke White, 12, died about 4 p.m. Wednesday from his wounds. He was shot Monday evening while at a house where he was spending the night with a friend, authorities said.

"I have known this kid for years,” Pat Ulrich, John's great-grandmother, said of the boy who discharged the gun. "Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine this.”

Oklahoma County Sheriff's Department spokesman Mark Myers said investigators interviewed a 14-year-old youth who lives at the house at 19815 E Memorial Road, where the shooting happened about 5:15 p.m. Monday.

Investigators believe the teen pulled the trigger of a .22-caliber revolver handgun. The weapon has been recovered and is in custody of the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Department. The 14-year-old apparently was playing with the weapon when the handgun discharged, Myers said.

Several firearms were found in the house, Myers said. No adults were home at the time of the shooting. Authorities have not released the 14-year-old's name.

Ulrich said family members are now planning on going to the Legislature to work to get a law passed requiring gun locks.

Karen White, the victim's grandmother, said, "We don't want to take guns away from people. We just want to make sure this doesn't keep happening.”

A fund for John Luke White has been set up at First Bank and Trust of Luther.