Authorities said a 6-year-old boy picked up an AR-style rifle and wounded his 13-year-old brother while both parents were home in Lawrence County.
TRINITY, Ala. — Authorities in north Alabama are investigating an accidental shooting at the home of state Rep. Ernie Yarbrough after officials said his 6-year-old son got hold of an AR-style rifle and wounded his 13-year-old brother in the shoulder while both parents were home.
The shooting quickly became more than a local emergency call because it involved a sitting state lawmaker whose public record is closely tied to gun rights. Lawrence County authorities have described the shooting as accidental, but the case remains under review by investigators and is expected to be sent to the district attorney’s office. The immediate questions are basic and important: how the rifle was accessed, whether it was stored loaded, whether any other children were nearby, and whether any charges or child welfare actions will follow.
Authorities said the shooting happened Saturday evening, March 21, at the family’s home in the Trinity community of Lawrence County. Deputies were dispatched at about 5:30 p.m. after a 911 call from the house, but by the time officers were responding, the family had already moved quickly to get the injured boy medical care. Lawrence County Chief Deputy Brian Covington said the 6-year-old found a .556-caliber AR-style rifle in a bedroom and accidentally fired it, striking his older brother in the back of the shoulder. The wound was described by authorities as non-life-threatening. Officials did not release the younger boy’s name or any further detail about how long he had access to the gun before it discharged. They also did not publicly say whether the rifle had a round already chambered, whether a safety mechanism was on or off, or whether an adult had been in the same room moments before the shot was fired. What authorities have said with confidence is that the shot was not being treated as an intentional assault by one child on another.
The first public account after the shooting came not from a formal news conference but from brief statements that filled in the human side of the event. Yarbrough later said in a text message that his injured son had suffered “a flesh wound only” and was already active again. “Thanks be to God, all is well,” Yarbrough said. That short message became one of the most repeated lines in the case because it suggested the injury, while alarming, was not expected to be life-threatening. Covington’s account was more direct and procedural. “The child found a gun in the bedroom and accidentally shot his brother,” he said. Together, those two remarks shaped the public understanding of the shooting in its first days: a frightening household accident, a wounded teenager expected to recover, and an investigation still sorting out the conditions that made the gun accessible to a 6-year-old. Even with those statements, major gaps remained. Authorities have not publicly said whether other children saw the shooting, how long the older boy was hospitalized or what exact medical treatment he received before returning home.
The case drew broad attention because Yarbrough is not a private citizen who happened to own a rifle. He is a Republican from Trinity who was elected to the Alabama House in 2022 and serves House District 7. He has also built a public profile as a strong supporter of gun rights. In 2025, he sponsored legislation titled the Anti-Red Flag Gun Seizure Act, which would have barred state and local agencies from enforcing red flag laws in Alabama and set a civil penalty for violations. That bill did not become law, but it added to a public record that already placed him firmly on the side of expanded firearm protections. None of that legislative history changes the core facts of the shooting inside his home. It does, however, help explain why the case became a state political story almost as soon as it became a local law enforcement matter. For critics and supporters alike, the event immediately raised questions about the divide between broad public arguments over gun rights and the private, practical issue of how firearms are kept inside a house with young children.
For investigators, the next steps are narrower and more methodical than the political debate around the case. Lawrence County authorities said the sheriff’s office notified the Alabama Department of Human Resources, which officials said is required when children are involved in a shooting. The sheriff’s office also said its findings would be turned over to the Lawrence County District Attorney’s Office for review. That does not mean charges are inevitable. It means prosecutors will examine the same issues investigators are now documenting: who owned the rifle, where it was kept, how the younger child was able to reach it, what adults knew about its condition, and whether any Alabama law was violated before the shot was fired. As of Sunday, no charges had been publicly announced. Authorities also had not said whether the case would remain solely an accident review or whether prosecutors might consider a child endangerment or weapons-related count. In a case involving one wounded child, another very young child and parents who were home at the time, those decisions are likely to determine how long the matter stays in the public eye.
The scene itself, as described by officials, was brief and chaotic in the way many accidental shootings are. A child was hurt, a 911 call was made, and the family did not wait for deputies to reach the house before heading for emergency medical care. By the time the story became public, the most dramatic part was already over. What remained was the quieter aftermath: deputies reconstructing a family emergency, a teenager recovering from a shoulder wound, and a lawmaker facing attention not because of a speech or a vote but because of what happened in his own home. That tension has shaped the public reaction. Supporters have focused on the fact that the boy survived and that Yarbrough publicly expressed gratitude. Others have focused on the rifle itself, the age of the child who reached it and the unanswered question of storage. Neither side has changed the official description of the case. Authorities have continued to call it accidental, while leaving open the larger review of responsibility that often follows when a firearm is accessed by a small child inside a home.
As of Sunday, the 13-year-old was reported to be recovering and no public charging decision had been announced. The next clear milestone is the district attorney’s review of the sheriff’s findings, along with any further statement from child welfare authorities or law enforcement about how the rifle came within the 6-year-old’s reach.
Author note: Last updated March 29, 2026.