A child in Utah was taken to a hospital in critical condition after suffering a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
According to FOX 13, police responded to a call at a Lehigh Maverick gas station at approximately 7:40 a.m. local time Monday reporting a possible gunshot wound to the head of an infant inside a vehicle.
The outlet quoted a police spokesperson as saying that nearby officers were able to respond quickly to the situation. The report did not specify the child’s age or gender.
Police said the parents were inside the store when the gun went off, and they are investigating how the child got hold of the weapon, FOX 13 reported.
Newsweek Contact the City of Lehigh Police Department for more information outside of standard business hours.
Another local outlet, KSL, cited a bystander at the store — Doug Shields — who reportedly helped and spoke with the child’s mother.
“He goes, ‘He shot himself. He shot himself. He shot himself. … He found a gun under my seat and pulled the trigger.’ It was obviously an accident, a complete accident,” Shields said.
9:30 pm update from ABC4 The child was reportedly taken to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City.
Monday’s incident comes two weeks after a man was taken to the hospital in Virginia Shot by his girlfriend’s two-year-old son.
The man was getting ready to leave the house but was shot after the infant dropped a handgun on a chair. Local news station WTVR reported that no one else was injured in the incident.
A 2023 study found that nearly 90 percent of gunshot deaths among children under the age of 15 involved unsecured firearms. In 80 percent of cases, the gun belonged to an elderly relative.
Last November, there was a four-year-old girl Critically injured after her brother accidentally shot her There was an illegally owned gun in the head Not properly secured in Miami-Dade, Florida.
“Firearms should be stored in a secure lock box, safe, or in a place where small children or anyone who should not have access to the firearm is out of reach,” Detective Andre Martin said in a statement to the press. time
“We urge every member of our community – whether you own a firearm or not – to discuss safe firearms handling, ownership with your children. Guns are not toys.”
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