The boy was alone in a car in Lehi, Utah, on Monday. He allegedly found a loaded gun under the seat and accidentally shot himself in the head, the Lehi Police Department told local media.
He died in hospital later on Tuesday morning. The shooting appeared to be “unintentional and self-inflicted,” police said in a statement.
No charges have been filed against the mother, but the shooting remains under investigation, they added.
According to KSL-TV, it happened outside the Maverik store near Thanksgiving Road.
“he shot himself”
Doug Shields, who was nearby, was putting gas in his car when he heard the gunshot and the woman screaming.
He told KSL-TV that he went to the car where the crash happened and heard the boy’s mother say the boy had found a gun under the seat.
“She said, ‘He shot himself, he shot himself, he shot himself,'” Shields said.
“At first I thought it was suicide, and she said, ‘I thought it was suicide: He found a gun under my seat and pulled the trigger.” Apparently it was an accident. It was a complete accident,” Shields added.
Monday’s shooting comes less than two weeks after a five-year-old boy was killed in similar circumstances at his family’s home in Santaquin, also in Utah.
According to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, Utah has no laws to prosecute those who fail to secure an unattended firearm.
This state also does not have laws requiring that unattended firearms be stored in certain ways.
Prepared from Sky News inf.
2024-09-06 19:18:34