A 2-year-old in Michigan died in an accidental shooting over the weekend after the toddler got a hold of an unsecured firearm, police said.
Authorities responded to a home in the 1900 block of Oak Squire Lane in the Rolling Oaks neighborhood in Howell just before 6 p.m. Sunday, the Howell Police Department said in a news release. Howell is about 40 miles southeast of Lansing.
The child was transported to a local hospital where the toddler was pronounced dead.
Police said that the child had “gained access to an unsecured firearm,” but it’s not clear where the firearm was.
No further details were released. It’s not clear if the child was supervised at the time of the shooting. Police did not share the gender of the child.
The investigation is ongoing.
Hundreds of children gain access to firearms and unintentionally shoot themselves or someone else each year, according to Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun control nonprofit.
This year alone there have been 136 unintentional shootings by children, resulting in 55 deaths and 84 injuries across the U.S., according to an Everytown tracker.
The tragic shooting comes two months after Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed legislation requiring that firearms be stored unloaded and locked with a locking device or stored in a locked box if it’s reasonable to believe a child will be present.
Just last week in Detroit, a 6-year-old boy found a gun and shot his 1-year-old sibling twice. The younger child, who was shot in the cheek and shoulder, survived. At the time the mother of the children was down the street at a family member’s house and their father was in the backyard with other children.
Source: NBC
