On Thursday, Gov. Matt Bevin blamed a seven-year-old girl being shot by her 11-year-old brother on a teacher sickout.
At a Rotary Club event in Louisville, Bevin said the Tuesday, March 12 shooting in Shively occurred after Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) canceled classes because a teacher sickout was held to protest a lack of public education funding.
“One thing you didn’t hear anything about, when we had people pretending to be sick that weren’t sick, and leaving kids unattended to, in situations they should not have been in, a little girl was shot, seven years old, by another kid because they were somewhere they weren’t intending to be, and (their) parents didn’t have any option to put them in a situation so they could go to work, that left these kids in a compromised situation when they encountered a gun and not enough awareness,” Bevin said.
The two children were in the care of their uncle when the accidental shooting happened. Police said the girl’s 11-year-old brother found a handgun and was playing with the firearm when it fired, striking his sister in the head. Police say the children’s uncle, who said the firearm was in a secure box underneath a bed, has guardianship over the children and was outside when the shooting occurred.
It hasn’t been confirmed whether the shooting victim attended a Jefferson County Public School, but public schools in Jefferson County let out at 3:45. The shooting was reported at approximately 3:00 in the afternoon.
Teachers in several districts across Kentucky staged sickouts throughout the 2019 legislative session to rally support of three education-related measures up for consideration.
In response to Bevin’s comments, the Kentucky Democratic Party released a statement calling Bevin’s thoughts “disgusting and unforgivable,” saying, “He’s completely out of control,” and “Kentuckians deserve better than this.”
Democrat gubernatorial candidate and current Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear immediately responded to Bevin’s comments on Twitter, saying, “Despicable. Matt Bevin is unfit to govern. Kentucky families, teachers, and kids deserve so much better than this governor.”
In April 2018, Bevin said that he guaranteed a child was sexually assaulted in Kentucky because teachers were protesting a public pension bill being considered in Frankfort.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com or 270-259-6000
