An eight-year-old boy was reportedly shot by his father while trying to protect his mother from domestic violence.
Cherish Edwards, the boy’s mother, recounted that her son, Amir Harden, was attempting to shield her when his father shot him at their home in Burnsville, Minnesota, USA.
“His father tried to shoot and kill me, but my son was shot instead,” Edwards stated on a GoFundMe page.
Edwards continued, “Amir tried wrestling the gun out of his father’s hand. I screamed for him to leave and go to the neighbors, but he refused and said, ‘Mommy, I’m not leaving you here.’”
After accidentally shooting Amir, the father then “shot himself in the head.”
Speaking to CBS News, Edwards described the situation as “an unbearable pain” and said, “It’s just unimaginable, an 8-year-old trying to wrestle the gun out of a grown man’s hand.”
Both Amir and his father, Danair Harden, Edwards’ former husband, were taken to Hennepin County Medical Center following the incident on June 5. Tragically, Amir died on Saturday, June 15.
“His four siblings witnessed this tragic event,” Edwards wrote. “My kids are traumatized and probably will need therapy for the rest of their lives.”
Danair Harden remains in critical condition in the hospital. Police are investigating the situation, and a city spokesperson disclosed that the father will be criminally charged if he survives.
It’s worth noting that Danair had assaulted Edwards a few days before the shooting. A court had cautioned, just hours before his release on $4,000 bail, that he posed “an immediate threat” to his family.
“It’s a nightmare that you can’t wake up from,” Amir’s grandfather, Deon Edwards, told CBS News.
Cherish Edwards urged other women to heed warnings about abusive partners. “It doesn’t matter if he hit you 10 years ago; he’s got to leave. Next time, it could be your life or your child’s life. Many women think it’ll never happen to them,” she said.
