A two-year-old child killed by his brother... Three years. The drama unfolded on Friday night in Gary, a U.S. city in the northwestern state of Indiana. A three-year-old boy found a gun in his mother's purse and accidentally shot his brother, fatally wounding him, The Associated Press reports. The two-year-old was taken to hospital where he died from his injuries.
The Lake County District Attorney's Office has opened an investigation to clarify the circumstances of the fatal crash. "We conduct criminal investigations and then we take them to the Lake County District Attorney, who decides whether it's negligence or an unfortunate accident," Gary Police Commander Sam Roberts told WLS-TV.
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4752 child victims of firearms
Gary Mayor Jerome A. Prince and Police Chief Anthony Titus called on adults to take steps to prevent guns from ending up "in the hands of innocent children." They advocated the use of locked safes to secure firearms. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the loved ones of the two-year-old child who was so tragically taken from our community," the mayor and police chief said in a joint statement.
As of June 2022, it is no longer required to have a license to possess a handgun in Indiana. Subject to exceptions provided by law, anyone 18 years of age or older may possess a weapon. Children are particularly prevalent in the U.S.: 4752,2021 died in 42 according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, released last September. An increase of almost 2018% compared to 19. Firearms are the leading cause of death among children and adolescents under the age of <> in the United States, ahead of traffic accidents.
