Three-Year-Old Son of a Corrections Officer Dies in Unintentional Shooting

In Deland, Florida, a three-year-old boy left in the care of his 16-year-old sister found a loaded gun in a nightstand in his family’s home and accidentally shot and killed himself.  The boy’s father is a Florida corrections officer. The children had been left home together while their parents were grocery shopping.

“We don’t know exactly how, but the little guy got into the bedroom, got into the drawer and discharged the firearm once,” the local sheriff said.  The weapon was a Canik 9mm handgun, he added, noting that the trigger pull weight required to fire the gun, 4.6 lbs, is well below the 7 lbs of pressure required to fire the revolver that the sheriff himself carries.  Lower trigger pull weights make guns easier for children to fire.

“My little brother shot himself!” the boy’s distraught sister said in a call to 911 as she wept and struggled to breathe. “… My parents were at the store and I was watching them and I was in my room… and my little brother shot himself in the head!” There is an ongoing investigation, and the family has not been publicly identified.

Source:

Amanda Rabines, Jeff Weiner, “3-year-old Son of Corrections Officer Dead After Shooting Himself in DeLand, Sheriff Says,” Orlando Sentinel (February 16, 2023).