An Indianapolis family is dealing with tragedy after a two-year-old child found his mother's gun and shot himself:
Police said the young child grabbed the gun from his mother’s purse off the kitchen counter after she momentarily stepped away, accidentally shooting himself.
The mother is cooperating with police. She was initially questioned by detectives in the incident, but has since been released.
Efforts to revive the toddler were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at the Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health.
In a 2015 article for the Washington Post, reporter Christopher Ingraham noted toddlers shooting themselves is a far too common occurrence in the U.S.:
But cases like this happen a lot more frequently than you might think. After spending a few hours sifting through news reports, I've found at least 43 instances this year of somebody being shot by a toddler 3 or younger. In 31 of those 43 cases, a toddler found a gun and shot himself or herself