Teen Killed After Gun Discharges in Adjacent Hotel Room; Man Charged
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aijohn784/iStockphoto/Thinkstock(RALEIGH, N.C.) — A teenager was killed at a hotel Friday after a gun discharged in the next room, according to the Raleigh Police Department.
Nathan Andrew Clark, 13, was killed while staying at a hotel for a soccer tournament in Raleigh, North Carolina, according to ABC News affiliate WTVD-TV in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Police said Clark was killed when a bullet struck him from a gun that discharged in the next hotel room. The gun allegedly belonged to Randall Louis Vater, 42, who has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, according to jail records.
According to police Clark was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said Vater did not know Clark before the incident.
In a 911 call, an unidentified caller said a guest needs an ambulance because the boy “has a bump on the back of his head and blood is everywhere.”
The caller said Clark was “not responding.”
Clark was in town to participate in the Capital Area Soccer League (CASL), but his team did not participate after his death, according to WTVD-TV.
The league released a statement the day after Clark’s death mourning the young player.
“We awoke this morning with great sadness to the unsettling news that Nathan Clark tragically lost his life late Friday night,” read the statement sent to WTVD-TV. “Our thoughts and prayers are with Nathan’s family and to his extended soccer family: the North Carolina Fusion players, parents, and coaches.”
Nathan’s coach also released a statement calling the eighth grader “fun loving” and “energetic.”
“Everyone on the team is deeply saddened by this tragic loss,” Coach Ben Kerth wrote to WTVD-TV. “We ask you to please pray for Nathan’s family. Heaven gained an amazing young man today.”
Vater was being held the Wake County Detention Center. and was expected to be in court in Monday.
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