A man was in critical condition after being shot by his girlfriend’s 2-year-old son in Virginia on Monday morning.
According to local news station WTVR, authorities said the man had been getting ready to leave the house and set his handgun down on a chair. The man was shot after the infant got hold of the weapon and accidentally discharged it.
No one else was injured and the man was flown to hospital, WTVR said.
Newsweek has contacted local police for comment and additional information via email outside of standard working hours.
Speaking to WTVR, neighbor Lisa Wood said “[Monday] was just a day that, you know, that wasn’t good.”
She described several police cars “screaming down” the road in Ettrick, and said she was at home when the child’s mother called asking her for help.
“She was like ‘Miss Wood.’ I was like ‘what’s wrong?’ She was crying. I was like ‘what’s wrong?’ And she just told me her son shot…I said what? After I went into the house, you know, he’s sitting there like a normal kid. It’s not like, you know, he’s worried or you know, anything like that. He still has a smile,” Wood told WTVR.
Wood told reporters she intends to provide support to the family in the wake of Monday’s accident.
“You know, I just want to show them love. Because right now it’s hard to just say it’s going to be okay, because I’m not in that predicament. And I really, truly, don’t know how she feels. But all I can do is give my love,” she told the outlet.
Last November, a 4-year-old girl was critically injured after her sibling accidently shot her in the head with an illegally owned gun that was not properly secured in Miami-Dade, Florida.
“A firearm should be stored in a secured lock box, safe, or in a place that is not accessible to small children or any person who should not have access to a firearm,” said Detective Andre Martin in a statement to the press at the time.
“We urge each and every member in our community — whether you own a firearm or not — to discuss safe firearm management, ownership with your children. Guns are not toys.”
A 2023 study found that approximately 90 percent of accidental shooting deaths in children under 15 in the involve unsecured firearms. In 80 percent of cases, the gun belonged to an older relative.
Do you have a story we should be covering? Do you have any questions about this article? Contact LiveNews@newsweek.com
