Tragedy in Glen Cove: Boy shoots self, dies

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Derek Cosme, 15, has died in Glen Cove due to what Nassau County Police are saying was a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The rising Glen Cove High School Junior was playing with a licensed, loaded handgun with two friends in a house on Williams Street on Wednesday at around 8 p.m. According to police, the gun went off, and the bullet struck Cosme. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The names and ages of the two friends have not been released by police, but it was confirmed that they are under the age of 16.

Glen Cove Lt. Detective John Nagle said that one of the friends reached out to a neighbor for help, and the neighbor alerted police on their behalf.

Nassau County Police spokesman Vincent Garcia said Cosme did not live at the house, but the gun was legally licensed to someone who resides there.

Garcia added that when gun owners receive their licenses in Nassau, they are given instructions and advised that any handgun should be kept in a lock box or safe.

If it is determined from the investigation that this gun was not locked up, it will be removed and the license will be revoked.

Nagle confirmed a resident in the house, the grandmother, was a former Nassau County corrections officer.

More details to follow.