A look into the accident that killed Gabriel
On May 28, 2022, Gabriel Hojnacki was with a friend at the Alpine Avenue home of the friend’s grandfather. The toy gun that the two kids were playing with killed Hojnacki by shooting him in the chest. He was taken to an emergency room and later said to be dead.
On the day of the incident, a Grand Rapids police detective testified in court about a possible trigger document. The officer said that Gross Jr.’s grandson, who is now an adult and going through charges, went into his grandfather’s bedroom and took the gun off the nightstand. This led to the teenager being accidentally shot and killed.
An affidavit says that Gross’s grandson was standing in the doorway between the living room and the kitchen while Gabriel Hojnacki slept on the couch. According to reports, Hojnacki’s friend later told police that he was only holding the gun with one hand when it went off, so he didn’t remember to squeeze the trigger.
Gross said that the teens were messing around with his 45-caliber gun when he started shooting. He also said that when he was at work, the gun was in a dresser in his bedroom that wasn’t locked. In answer to Gross’s grandson, the gun was found on the nightstand.
According to court documents, police found a handgun in the drawer next to the bed and two other weapons in a hidden drawer. Gross told the police that he couldn’t remember whether or not he had put the gun away with a ball in the chamber after it was found. He said he thought all of the weapons were put away.
Also, the 60-year-old man said in an affidavit that he might have talked about the guns as recently as a few years ago. Gross said that his grown-up son was giving him trouble and trying to get on his property without permission.
Bradley Peri, a lawyer for Gabriel Hojnacki’s family, talked about the problem and called it “a horrible tragedy that shouldn’t have happened.” He went on to say that Gross’s family is relieved that he has to pay for what he did.
Peri went on to explain that Gabriel couldn’t be saved, but that his death wouldn’t have been in vain if the tragedy could cause one gun owner to change their behavior and save a life.
He ended by saying that people have the right to own guns, but they also have the responsibility to keep them locked up and unloaded. Peri said that doing that could only help to keep kids safe and stop more deaths like Gabriel’s.