A 3-year-old has died after being shot in the head Saturday evening at his family's home near Broad Ripple Park, IMPD officials confirmed. Investigators said they believe it was the result of an accident.
Police said the child was shot in the head with a handgun. The incident occurred on the 1800 block of East 68th Street, just a few blocks north of Broad Ripple Park.
IMPD Lt. Christopher Bailey said investigators believe the child shot himself after pulling the gun off a kitchen counter. Lt. Bailey said detectives are still investigating and once they're done, the Marion County Prosecutor's Office will review the case to see if criminal charges need to be filed.
Police said they were alerted of the incident just after 6 p.m. Saturday after a 911 caller stated a "gun went off and struck a child."
It seems that there is still some confusion as to whether the gun fired accidentally when it was pulled off the counter or if the child actually pulled the trigger.
Either way this is a tragic accident that was easily preventable, and one that SHOULD result in charges against the adults who demonstrated such fatal irresponsibility.
People need to be educated that guns are NOT a tool for self defense. Pepper spray, martial arts training, and even house alarms can be categorized as such, but not guns.
Guns are instruments designed to take a life.
THAT is their sole function. And THAT needs to be the consideration when bringing one into your home.
Especially when you have young children whose lives have suddenly become more dangerous, not less dangerous.
Stupid parents. I guess why bother putting them in jail as they will suffer each day for the rest of their lives knowing that they killed their baby.
ReplyDeleteJail their criminally negligent asses.
DeleteMaybe because they committed manslaughter?
DeleteIf they caused the death of someone else they would be arrested and yet you think of their child as less. Sorry, maybe if we start jailing parents that murder their children others will know they can't get away with it.
I am tired of criminals getting off just because they are the parents of the person murdered. And I can guarantee you, less of these incidents and others like leaving children in hot cars is done on purpose
Are you kidding me? When that armed intruder broke into my neighbors home I really bet pepper spray would have been useful self defense. You're an idiot. Luckily the intruder was so drunk he passed out in their entry way, but their gun IS the only thing that could have come between my neighbors and that man. With that being said, gun safety courses, a safe to store your guns in, and making sure 100% your children know the dangers of guns is a must.
ReplyDeleteAre you kidding me? Your example, an armed intruder passes out in their house and some how you relate that to a gun being preferable to pepper spray? Really well thought out argument.
DeleteLook in the mirror. there's your idiot.
No intruder would dare enter my house, with three big assed barking dogs, they'd have to be idiots. I live in the country and not everyone out here has guns We do but they are locked up, unloaded and military issue from my husband's USMC service.
DeleteI would also add an insurance rider and a deep back ground check to own ANY gun of ANY kind.
Strange how the rest of the world survives without the need for guns in every home. There are enough problems keeping children out of harm's way with the normal household goods around - we demand childproof lids on cleaners, tamper proof packaging for our meds - yet happily keep weapons of death on the kitchen counter.
DeleteProven again and again - guns are not kept in safes & too many fools have NO idea about gun safety.
How the hell does a drunk armed intruder break into a home? How about locking the god damn door to start with. Maybe a wrought iron security door like I have in addition to my regular door and finally GET A FUCKING DOG. Nothing stops an intruder faster than a pissed off dog. Not a gun but a dog.
DeleteAlso I doubt a 3 yr old is going to understand and fully appreciate the danger of a gun. What killed that child was stupidity and a GUN
Anon 10:35
DeleteTry again. So the drunk intruder (probably thought he was in his own house) was passed out in the entryway and you think this is the reason people should be armed? And frankly, any moron who leaves a gun out with small children in the house should have their children taken away.
And it seems the parents were open carriers. They love their guns so much they have to show the world. Somebody needs to get their ass locked up for not securing the effing gun.
Also, I have to say there are a whole lot of little ones in the past year who have been shot--accidentally. Is anyone fearing child gun deaths are the new child abuse? Instead of beating them to death--they are just shooting them? Ugly thought, but guns and the people who worship them are ugly too.
So, I'm assuming those armed intruders breaking into people's houses will wait patiently for the homeowner to go to the gun safe, remove the gun, open the box of bullets, load it and aim before actually threatening the residents?
DeletePerhaps the intruders might send a quick warning text or phone call, letting the homeowner know they're coming so they have adequate time to arm themselves before meeting their uninvited guests.
Otherwise, a properly stored, unloaded and locked weapon does little good against an armed intruder (unless, of course, the armed intruder passes out in the entry way).
Really? A Taser wouldn't have worked? BTW I am a weapons owner and I'm sorry but leaving a loaded weapon within reach of a child is irresponsible and should be a criminal action.
DeleteWith all rights come some responsibility.
Or a call to 911, and I doubt the drunk that walked into the wrong home deserved to be shot, maybe your neighbors should have just locked their door to begin with.
It must have been gods will or else he would have stopped it from happening.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I think you have a point. Look at all the children of gunowners who have been shot in their own homes just since Newtown. Hundred? Thousands? I don't think God is a big fan of the GOP interpretation of the 2nd Amendment.
DeleteThis tragedy never would have happened if only a good-guy with a gun had shot and killed whomever left that pistol on the counter.
ReplyDelete:(
DeleteIt is sad that the few people who leave guns out ruin it for others.
@11.23 - it is death that people leave guns out - nothing to do with "ruining it for others" - it kills others. Children are inquisitive, guns kill - the two do not ever go together.
DeleteGun nuts armed to the teeth awaiting the "Armed Intruder". Meanwhile, guns in their homes are killing and injuring their families every day, either accidentally or intentionally.
ReplyDeleteIt could have fired if knocked off the counter. And You will never win the "guns are not self defense" battle. Especially living in AK, where people fire off guns into the night when a neighbor's dog barks nonstop.
ReplyDeleteLiving up there in the cold really does shrivel their dicks, huh? (With some exceptions, and this blog's owner is one.)
DeleteIf could have fired, but thik about it. The child reaches up for it and it's heavier than he thinks, so he lets it fall to the floor, where is discharges. How did he get shot in the head? And every word is Gryph's post is spot on. People are far less safe in a home WITH guns than without them.
DeleteHow sad that if her "protective parents" had never bought that gun, odds are that little girl would have grown to adulthood just fine.
ReplyDeleteProbably not. With parents like this kid had, he would have been a high school drop-out; gotten a girl knocked up; lived in a trailer park and would have been a proud member of the NRA. Latest death could be a case of natural selection. Keep it up, morons. Maybe it will get through to you better than the carnage at Newtown when one of your own is killed by a gun.
DeleteWhenever I read these news items, I always think we need new definitions for the words "accident" and "Stupid". How is leaving a loaded gun in reach of a child an "accident"? How dumb are the parents and the laws that allow a judge to rule this an "accident"?
ReplyDeleteThe poor child never had a chance.