Boy, three, shoots dead baby brother after finding gun in mum’s purse, police say | US | News

A three-year-old boy in Indiana shot dead his two-year-old brother after finding a gun in his mother’s purse, police said.

Officers in Gary, Indiana, were dispatched to a local hospital Friday night, where the child’s mother told them her older son had found the gun in her purse after she left a bedroom.

She told police her son accidentally shot his younger brother, who later died from his gunshot wounds.

The Lake County Prosecutor’s Homicide Task Force is currently investigating the shooting, which occurred inside a Gary home in the 2100 block of Georgia Street, police said.

Gary Police Commander Sam Roberts told WLS-TV: “We do criminal investigations, and then we present that to the Lake County prosecutor, who makes a decision whether it’s negligence or an unfortunate accident.”

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Neighbours said they heard a loud bang just before 7:30pm on Friday, when the child was then taken to Northlake Methodist Hospital.

Mayor Jerome A. Prince and Gary Police Chief Anthony Titus warned that firearms could “become weapons in the hands of innocent children” if they are not secured properly.

They also urged parents to use gun boxes or gun locks to prevent similar incidents from happening.

Prince and Titus said in a joint statement: “Our hearts and prayers go out to the loved ones of the two-year-old child who was so tragically taken from our community.”

As of July 2022, Indiana does not require a handgun permit to legally carry, conceal, or transport a handgun in the state.

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