3-Year-Old Fatally Shoots 2-Year-Old Brother After Finding Loaded Gun In Mother's Purse

Indiana Police have confirmed news that a 3-year-old accidentally fatally shot his 2-year-old brother after picking a gun from their mom's purse. The case is still under investigation, and the names of the mother and children remain private information. 

The child shooting case represents a larger issue of gun storage safety issues in the U.S., which has caused many accidental shootings. The local police department has now emphasized the importance of gun safety and security in a Facebook post on the ongoing child shooting case. 

The Gary Police Department of Indiana shared the news of the accidental child shooting case with People Magazine. During an interview, Commander Samuel Roberts revealed that an Indiana mother alleged that her 3-year-old son fatally shot his 2-year-old brother. 

The accidental shooting happened after the young boy found an unsecured firearm in his mother's purse. The Lake County Prosecutor's Homicide Task Force was called into the situation by the Northlake Methodist Hospital on Friday when the mother brought the children in. 

Roberts said the mother told officers at the hospital the 3-year-old found the gun in her purse when she left him in the bedroom briefly. After the interview, police went to the home located on the 2100 block of Georgia Street to secure the crime scene. 

The commander stated that no charges had been filed against the mother or young boy at the time. He only called the mother's careless handling of her firearm "reckless." He also didn't disclose the names of the mother and kids, as that's confidential for now. 

According to a gun storage safety survey by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, there's a significant firearm safety problem in the U.S. The 2018 survey is reportedly the first sample to examine the issue on a national scale in the U.S. in the past 15 years. 

According to the survey report, over half of U.S. gun owners fail to store their firearms safely at home. This issue of gun storage safety has been established as a cause of accidental shootings among children. There has been a heavy effort by police to publicize proper gun safety. 

For their part, the Indiana State Police have severally published information on how to store firearms safely. The bulleted information reminds all gun owners to ensure their gun is "unloaded" and secured "separate from the ammunition" for the weapon. 

According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been 1,399 accidental shootings in 2023 so far. There have also been three more shooting incidents since the fatal child shooting in Gary. These occurred in Savannah, San Antonio, and Chicago. 

The Gary Police Department of Indiana has also re-emphasized the importance of gun safety and secure firearms. 

It made a Facebook post sharing information from the ongoing child shooting investigation and asked that gun owners use a "gun box" or "gun lock" on their firearms. The department also shared the info in an emailed press release to People. 

Roberts said, "A gun in a purse – that is not in a holster – is very reckless. Because anything in the purse might strike the trigger." He stated that the only way to safely carry guns in a purse is if there's a built-in holster, which is only for some firearms.