A 3-year-old boy died after accidentally shooting himself with a gun that belonged to his father. The tragedy happened Thursday, Oct. 22, in the parking lot of a Burger King restaurant in Bartow, Florida. The child was in the back seat of a car. At some point he reached for a pistol left inside the vehicle and shot himself in the head. Despite a fast rescue effort, the boy could not be saved. The circumstances are complicated enough that the local sheriff has said he will not recommend charges against the father. The final decision, however, rests with the state attorney’s office.
According to investigators, at about 6:23 p.m. the father and son pulled up to the restaurant’s drive-through window to order dinner. When he tried to pay, the terminal declined his credit card. The man parked the car and began checking what the problem was. The family had moved to Florida from Connecticut about four months earlier. Local Sheriff Grady Judd suspects the transaction may have been blocked by bank security measures triggered by the change of residence.
Investigators determined that while the boy’s father was trying to resolve the payment problem, he was “leaning over,” and a Glock pistol tucked into the waistband of his pants was getting in his way. He took out the gun and set it down somewhere inside the vehicle, though he could not say exactly where.
Meanwhile, the 3-year-old was playing in the back seat. The child found the pistol, picked it up and pointed the barrel toward himself, aiming straight at his head. The boy then pulled the trigger.
The father heard a loud bang and ran out of the car. Surveillance video from the restaurant shows the panicked man running around the vehicle.
A woman in a car parked nearby called emergency services. Paramedics took the critically wounded boy to Lakeland Regional Health hospital. Despite doctors’ efforts, the child could not be saved.
No arrests have been made in connection with the incident. The sheriff said that, based on preliminary findings, his office does not intend to recommend criminal charges against the boy’s father. The final decision will be up to the state attorney’s office after it reviews the materials gathered by Bartow police and detectives from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
Editor: JŁ
