Firearm still not recovered days after DC 1-year-old allegedly shot himself

Gun not recovered, family not interviewed in 1-year-old's death

A one-year-old child was shot and killed in the District on the day before Thanksgiving. Now, police and the public are still searching for answers.

WASHINGTON (FOX 5 DC) - Five days after a one-year-old child allegedly shot himself in the District, police are still searching for the firearm used and have yet to receive formal statements from the relatives with the most information, according to the D.C. Police Chief.

Those relatives are believed to be one-year-old Legend Wheeler's parents. Wheeler was shot and killed on the day before the Thanksgiving holiday and was supposed to turn two years old on Dec. 4th.

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"As we proceed through this investigation, understanding there’s a funeral, etc., that’s coming up for this young child, we’re working as quickly as we possibly can to really work with those family members to get to the bottom of what happened with this child," said D.C. Police Chief Robert Contee III. "I wish I had more that I could report to the public at this point, but this investigation will move as quickly as family members cooperate with police."

Contee also confirmed that the family members involved decided to obtain attorneys before providing formal statements to police.

Officers were called to the 2300 block of Chester Street Southeast just before 1 p.m. Wednesday for a child who allegedly shot himself. A police report says baby Wheeler suffered trauma to his face.

The firearm was not found on scene Wednesday, believed to have been hidden. No arrests have been made in the case yet.

One of the questions Chief Contee was asked on Monday was whether he believed a child of this age could shoot himself. The chief responded, "Anything is possible. Probable is another issue."

Witnesses described both parents as either at or near the scene when the shooting happened. Those parents may be working separately with two different attorneys, according to sources. FOX 5 reached out but did not receive a response.

FOX 5 asked Chief Contee whether holding someone accountable for this child’s death depends on finding the firearm involved.

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"We do know obviously this child lost his life as a result of a firearm and we also know that that child, very unlikely that that child brought that firearm into the home," said Contee. "So when you talk about accountability, I think adults need to be adults. We need to talk through what exactly happened to this child and we need to allow the process to take place. Obviously, nothing we do is going to bring this child back to life and that is very unfortunate."