DELAND, Fla. — A 3-year-old boy fatally shot himself when he found a 9 mm handgun in a nightstand in his Florida home, according to authorities.
The Volusia County Sheriff's Office called it"one of the worst calls imaginable" to respond to.
The shooting occurred as the 3-year-old and an 8-year-old were being watched by their 16-year-old sister while the parents were grocery shopping, Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said at a news conference Thursday. The gun was discharged once, the sheriff said. It's not clear exactly how the boy got into the nightstand and discharged the gun, Chitwood said.The family had a second gun on top of the fridge, he said.
The boy's father is a state corrections officer, Chitwood said, adding that the guns were not department-issued. Chitwood called the 16-year-old's 911 call"heartbreaking." The sheriff said the girl told dispatchers,"My brother shot himself and he's not breathing."The sheriff pleaded with gun owners to keep them in safes.Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
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