Teenager Shot Dead in Prank Gone Wrong: Police

A teenager has died after being shot as he tried to prank his friend, according to police in Texas.

The shooting took place at the friend's home in the 4300 block of Stuebner Hill Drive, north of Houston, at about 8:35 a.m. on Monday.

When officers from Harris County Sheriff's Office arrived, they found a 17-year-old Black boy, later identified as Dominique McCoy, in the bathroom with a gunshot wound, Fox 26 reported.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, which collates information about shootings across the U.S., 169 people have been shot dead in Texas since August 1 this year. Of those killed, 16 were aged between 12 and 17.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez tweeted on Tuesday: "McCoy was visiting the home. The suspected shooter, identified as Reginald Smalls, 17, resides at the location. Smalls claimed that McCoy had startled him inside the home, causing him to shoot him.

"Manslaughter charges were filed against Smalls. Charges of tampering with evidence were also filed on another individual who was staying at the home, Lekedrick Bowden, 18."

During a bond hearing on Tuesday, a judge said McCoy had been hiding in the bathroom and jumped out to scare Smalls in a joking way, according to ABC.

The judge set bond at $100,000, but Smalls was not present for the hearing. He has been admitted to a mental health unit. No further details about his condition have been released, ABC reported.

Smalls' bond was raised to $150,000 after he allegedly assaulted an officer following his arrest. Court documents obtained by ABC 13 said the 17-year-old hit and threw to the ground a detention officer who was trying to prevent him from tampering with a camera inside a jail cell.

Newsweek has contacted Harris County Sheriff's Office for comment.

Hundreds of accidental shootings take place every year in the U.S. The Gun Violence Archive states that there have been 1,092 so far this year.

In March, a woman in Ohio accidentally shot her boyfriend in the face after he tried to show her how to use a firearm.

According to documents seen by ABC/CW affiliate WTVG, Christopher Antron Scott Jr., 30, had been showing his girlfriend Anna Sigarroa, 36, a gun at their home just before midnight on March 4.

Sigarroa became concerned, telling police later that Scott was not allowed to be near a firearm because of a prior felony conviction.

The documents stated that Scott refused to put the gun away, which resulted in a struggle. The gun went off and Scott was shot in the mouth. He later drove himself to a nearby hospital.