An Indianapolis boy died Wednesday night after an accidental shooting at home, according to news reports.
The two-year-old boy shot himself in the chest after discovering his mother’s gun inside her purse on the kitchen counter, according to police. The toddler was taken to a nearby hospital and died of his injuries. An officer said they believed the shooting was accidental but were still investigating, according to WTHR-TV.
Another two-year-old was accidentally shot two weeks ago in Jackson, Miss., when her mother’s gun went off at a hospital emergency room, according to the Clarion-Ledger. When the mother dropped her purse with the gun inside, the weapon discharged, causing a bullet to graze the right side of the girl’s face. The girl was treated at the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
Accidental shootings involving toddlers are not uncommon:
- A Florida woman was charged with a misdemeanor last month after her four-year-old son discovered her gun while she was driving and accidentally shot her in the back, according to CNN
- One day earlier, a Sacramento two-year-old was critically injured when she discovered a gun at her mother’s friend’s house and shot herself in the head, according to the Sacramento Bee.
- A three-year-old boy in Michigan accidentally shot his mother in the back of the head in February, reported WOOD-TV, though the mother recovered in a few days.
In January, a seven-year-old boy in Tennessee was acidentally shot and killed in his family’s car when one of his siblings found a gun in their mother’s purse and fired, according to WBIR-TV.
Everytown for Gun Control, an organization that seeks to prevent gun violence, estimates at least 69 shootings this year have involved children under 18 accidentally killing or injuring others with a gun.
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