A four-year-old boy fatally shoots himself after finding a gun at the backseat of the car while his mother and a friend smoked marijuana in the front seat, a Louisiana sheriff said on Monday. The child instantly died of the gunshot wound to the head. The officials announced that the incident happened on Saturday night in Westwego, across the Mississippi River from New Orleans.
The authorities also found the child's one-year-old and a 22-month-old sibling in the vehicle, although no other injuries were reported.
An unsafe place to leave a weapon
The gun belongs to the child's father, who was not in the car during the incident. The child must have found the gun from under a seat. The mother did not know that there was a weapon in the vehicle.
"We shouldn't ever leave a gun inside of a vehicle for numerous different reasons, this one being the most tragic reason," Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joseph Lopinto said during a news conference.
Authorities initially thought that the child was shot from behind or that a sibling may have shot him. However, the autopsy confirmed that the bullet was coming from the front area.
According to the sheriff, no arrests were made, and they will submit the evidence to the district attorney's office for consideration.
No arrests
The mother and her friend admitted using marijuana in the same car when the shooting happened. However, police could not find pot from the vehicle. They have been cooperative, Lopinto noted.
The police said that he did not think it was appropriate to make an arrest at this time. "They've just lost a child. It certainly wasn't intentional by any means," he said.
Lopinto also urged people not to leave their guns unsecured.
Toddlers finding guns anywhere
The gun-control advocacy group, Everytown for Gun Safety, reported that authorities reported at least 371 unintentional shootings by children last year. The shootings caused 151 deaths. The pandemic also showed an increase in unintended shooting incidences.
Statistics revealed that from March to December 2020, unintentional shootings by kids increased by 30 percent compared to the same period in 2019.
Police also reported that a toddler got hold of a handgun inside a car in Texas last month. The weapon blew off, hurting the toddler's mother and a younger sibling. But, no serious injuries were reported.
A two-year-old also fatally shot his mother while on a Zoom call. The toddler found the weapon in their home.
Authorities estimate that 4.6 million kids live at home with an unlocked, loaded gun.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the most effective way to prevent unintentional gun injuries, suicide, and homicide is to keep the home gun-free.
However, if a person decides to own a gun, it is best to keep guns in safe storage in their homes. Authorities say that the weapon should be locked and unloaded and have ammunition locked separately.
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