A 2-year-old child killed his 1-year-old brother in an accidental shooting after finding his parents’ loaded 9 mm pistol left out in their bedroom on Monday afternoon in Mobile, Alabama. That tragedy marked the 123 child under the age of 11 killed or wounded in gunfire since January 1, according to GunViolenceArchive.com, which tracks shootings. It was also the second fatal shooting of a child shooting of that day.
Mobile Police Chief Lawrence Battiste told reporters outside the children’s home Monday afternoon that the siblings were together in their parents bedroom when the toddler apparently discovered the handgun. Their mother had just walked out to an in-law unit in the rear of the home to let the boys’ grandmother know she was about to leave.
Shortly after, the 2-year-old came out to tell his grandmother something too.
“The 2-year-old came out and told his grandmother his ears were ringing,” Battiste said. “We believe this was an accidental shooting.”
Battiste characterized leaving a firearm at as “negligent,” though a spokesman for the police department told Newsweek that the parents were not expected to be charged with any related crime.
“Really, it boils down to a parent being responsible with their right to bear arms and not being negligent about where they leave those types of weapons,” he said. “I can’t imagine the type of pain that this family will be going through but it’s going to be compounded by the fact that one of the children was injured as a result of their negligence.”
About 40 minutes earlier in East Carroll Parish, Louisiana, a 12-year-old fatally shot a 7-year-old child by accident while they were together in a bedroom, police told The New Star. A spokesperson for the East Carroll Parish did not immediately return a phone call requesting additional details.
The tragedies come as the nation is in the grips of a heated debate over gun control. On Friday, following the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Florida Governor Rick Scott signed into legislation a gun bill—eponymous named after the school. The bill included several reforms and was seen as a mixed bag among people on both sides of the gun debate.
The measure raised the minimum age to purchase a rifle from 18 to 21 —the age to buy a handgun was already 21—which the National Rifle Association opposed, and also expanded legal protections for those who use a firearm in self-defense. The law also permits teachers to carry firearms in the classroom if both the local school district and local sheriff’s department agree, a controversial policy that many education and gun control advocates oppose.
Alabama and Louisiana were two of the top three states for firearm-related death rate in 2016, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s most recent data. Alabama was second in the nation with 21.5 firearm deaths per 100,000 people, followed by Louisiana with 21.3 deaths per 100,000. Alaska ranked first with 23.3.
All three of those states are also among the easiest to purchase a gun in. None of them require a gun permit to purchase rifles, shotguns or handguns, according to the National Rifle Association.
