Sevierville Man Accidentally Shoots Teen with AR-15 Rifle

A 15-year-old boy is in the hospital recovering from a gunshot wound to the neck after a friend accidentally shot him with an AR-15 style rifle inside a Sevierville home on Wednesday.

Officers from the Sevierville Police Department responded to a 911 call reporting an accidental shooting at a residence on Nichols Street near downtown Sevierville just after 3 p.m. on Oct. 11, 2017. They found the victim Dakota Bradburn lying on the floor upstairs and 18-year-old Charles “CJ” James Christopher applying pressure to a gunshot wound on Bradburn’s neck. The Sevierville Fire Department also responded to the scene. LifeStar transported Bradburn to UT Medical Center in Knoxville. His condition was not released.

According to the responding officer, it appeared the bullet entered Bradburn’s neck close to his throat, exited out the back of the neck and then lodged in his shoulder.

Christopher told officers that he was, “Messing around with his AR-15 and thought it was safe and accidentally pulled the trigger.” The firearm involved was a .223 caliber Diamondback Firearms AR-15 style rifle belonging to Christopher.

Two other 18-year-old friends were in the home at the time of the shooting. Thomas N. Dison told police he was upstairs playing on his PS4 when he heard a loud bang and then “CJ” said to call 911. John G. Pack was reportedly on the first floor and heard the shot, but he thought it was an airsoft gun or something falling until Dison came downstairs and told him to call 911. Pack ran to the scene upstairs and after seeing the blood, called 911 and stayed on the line until police arrived.

No charges have been filed.