shawna.morrison@roanoke.com 981-3349

A 4-year-old boy apparently shot himself to death after finding a gun in a car in Northwest Roanoke on Friday afternoon, police said.

Roanoke police got a call at 5:08 p.m. that the child had been shot in front of a home in the 3100 block of Linwood Road, Lt. Chris Perkins said. The boy was found dead in the front seat of a Cadillac STS when police arrived.

Perkins would not say how many times or where on his body the boy was shot.

Police did not release the boy's name, but a family member identified him as Assadi Wiley. The family declined to comment further on Friday.

The boy was sitting in the Cadillac's front seat while his father, whom police have not named, stood outside the car and talked with someone, Roanoke police Capt. Rusty Ross said. Ross said it appears that the boy found the gun inside the car and fired it.

Police said the boy's father threatened to kill himself after he realized what had happened, but he did not harm himself.

A small section of the road was blocked off with police tape Friday afternoon, and police held white sheets around the Cadillac while detectives and a medical examiner took photographs of the scene.

The father was interviewed Friday afternoon, Perkins said. He said two other people who may have seen or heard what happened were also interviewed.

Perkins said he thought the home the car was parked in front of belonged to the boy's grandparents.

Sgt. D.C. Brabham of the Roanoke Police Department's major crimes bureau said no further information will be released until Tuesday, after police have talked with the commonwealth's attorney. The commonwealth's attorney's office will be closed Monday for the Labor Day holiday.

The Children's Defense Fund states that three Virginia children were accidentally shot to death in 2001, the latest year for which figures were available.