A Texan celebration turned sour on Saturday after a 3-year-old boy shot himself during his own birthday party. The little boy reportedly took a gun belonging to one of his family members on the floor and shot himself with it. Preliminary investigations reveal that the gun had fallen out of the pocket of a relative who attended the birth, and the boy had picked it up and shot himself with it.
The celebration which had been going on in the unidentified boy’s home in Porter, Texas, had been going on smoothly until family members who were playing card heard a gunshot. According to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, the event occurred around 4:15 pm on Saturday. The family found the boy with a gunshot wound and immediately informed the authorities.
“Family and friends had gathered earlier to celebrate the birthday of the three-year-old, and while playing cards, heard a gunshot,” the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office stated. “The child was located with a gunshot wound to the chest.”
The family members told the police that the gun belongs to a family member and the boy had found it after it dropped on the floor from the relative’s pocket, NBC News reports. The boy was still alive when he was found but died shortly after he was rushed to a nearby fire station. The County’s Sheriff’s Office offered their condolence to the bereaved family in a social media post.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of the victim of this tragic accident,” the Sheriff offered.
The advocacy group, Everytown for Gun Safety, conducted research that revealed that fatal intentional shootings among children increased by 43% in March and April in the United States. According to the group, the increase was recorded at the same time more people were purchasing firearms during the COVID-19 lockdown in the United States. The group warned that with schoolchildren being bored at home, there would be an increase in children picking up arms and accidentally shooting themselves.
Authorities did not reveal how the family member had dropped the gun on the floor or if the owner of the gun has been reckless and irresponsible in handling and keeping the gun.
Source: yahoo.com
