Within moments, scores of traumatised kids who had watched broadcast were congregating outside Malachi Hemphill's home
A YOUNG teenager accidentally shot himself dead while playing with a gun on a social media live stream.
Thirteen-year-old Malachi Hemphill was killed when he accidentally set off the weapon as dozens of pals watched on Instagram Live.
His distraught mother described the moment she heard the gunshot ring out at the family's Atlanta home.
Re-telling how she and her daughter discovered his lifeless body, Shaniqua Stephens told : "I just knew that it was something that was wrong.
"We kicked in the door. We found him just laying there in a pool of blood.
"My daughter screamed and said, ‘Mom turn his phone off!' As I proceeded to look at his phone he was on Instagram Live.”
Within moments, scores of traumatised schoolchildren who had watched the broadcast live were congregating outside Malachi's home praying he was alive.
He was rushed to Grady Hospital in Georgia but later died there.
Those watching helped Stephens understand what had happened, and to realise her son had not taken his own life but had rather been the victim of a tragic accident.
Viewers of the broadcast had implored young Malachi to put the safety clip on the gun.
But when he did, the firearm went off and wounded him with the fatal shot.
Police are now trying to trace who gave him the weapon.
Instagram Live allows users of the photo-sharing app to stream footage to their followers.
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