A three-year-old boy in New Jersey, United States accidentally shot himself with a gun. According to a statement from Newark Public Safety Director Fritz Friese, when police arrived at the scene of the shooting at 5:47 p.m. local time on August 15, they found the boy and two other children inside a home on Wainwright Street. The boy was brought to University Hospital for treatment and is currently in critical condition.
According to a report PeopleThe police department said the incident was under investigation. “A firearm was recovered from the scene. The shooting appeared to be accidental and self-inflicted. The incident is under investigation. No further information is available,” they said.
According to CCTV footage, the three-year-old’s older brother was seen asking people at a local store for help. The store manager recalled that the boy was covered in blood and told him his brother couldn’t breathe. A store clerk went to the boy’s home and found the little boy covered in blood. He told the manager, “Boss, there’s a little boy walking around covered in blood,” before the manager called 911.
“I’m scared myself because we were here but we didn’t know what was going on but we saw the police and everything,” said Newark resident Edith Frinpong, a mother of two.
“We should be careful about keeping weapons in our homes … in a safe place,” he said.
The Newark Department of Public Safety later told gun owners on Facebook to “be vigilant about gun safety by taking extra precautions when carrying guns.” They asked to keep guns “unloaded and locked,” secure ammunition “separately from the gun” and consider using a “gun lock.” They also asked locals to hide keys or passcodes to gun storage.
“You can never be too careful about where and how you secure guns, especially in homes or other locations where children may be present,” the caption said.
According to local news outlet KTVB7, the incident comes almost a year after a three-year-old girl accidentally shot her sister in Harris County, Texas. Sheriff Ed Gonzales posted about the incident, saying the four-year-old girl died on the spot. The outlet quoted him as saying there were five adults in an apartment on Bammel North Houston Road near Tomball Parkway where the incident took place. They were all family and friends, Mr. Gonzales said. According to law enforcement officials, the girl lived in the apartment with her parents.
According to the sheriff, the girls’ parents had left them alone in a room and it was there that the 3-year-old found a loaded gun. The girl fired one shot, killing her older sister, the official said.
