A teenager died in Graham after a firework went off near his body on church property
A 15-year-old boy died early Monday in Graham after a “mortar-type firework” went off near his body, the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office said.
The teenager and four other boys had been at a sleepover and gone outside to light off fireworks in the 21200 block of Orting Kapowsin Highway East, according to Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Carly Cappetto.
The victim and his friends were on New Testament Christian Church’s property when the fatal firework went off, Cappetto said Tuesday. The incident was reported at 2:10 a.m. Monday.
“It’s unknown how they got a hold of mortars or where these fireworks came from,” Cappetto told The News Tribune.
Prior to the incident, authorities had received a couple of complaints about explosions in the area, according to Cappetto.
“There could have been a lot of things that went wrong with this,” she said. “It’s heartbreaking.”
