A Texas 2-year-old accidentally fired off a handgun while in a vehicle, injuring the child’s mother and younger sibling Wednesday, according to police.
The shooting in Granbury, Texas, occurred at a Walmart when a toddler obtained the gun from its concealed place between the front seat and the center console in the parents’ truck, according to the Granbury Police Department. The toddler fired the gun one time, injuring the mother, 23, and sibling, 1, while the father, 26, was standing at the rear of the truck.
NORTH TEXAS| A one-year-old child accidentally shot an infant sibling and their mother at a Walmart in Granbury, Texas on Wednesday morning, police said. https://t.co/IUOIsawLRg
— 12NewsNow (@12NewsNow) January 6, 2022
The bullet penetrated the tissue of the younger sibling’s leg, then traveled through the arm and into the side of the mother, who was standing outside near the driver’s door, police stated. Police reported no injuries to the child who fired the weapon or to the father. (RELATED: Baldwin’s ‘Rust’ Set Saw Two Previous Accidental Discharges Before One That Killed Woman)
The younger child was transported by ground to Fort Worth hospital with injuries not believed to be life-threatening, according to police. The mother was carried by air to Fort Worth hospital with more serious injuries, though her current condition remains uncertain.
During a similar incident in Alabama in May of 2021, a 3-year-old accidentally shot and killed a 6-year-old with a firearm left unsecured in the home, the Daily Caller reported. Helena Police Chief Major Clay Hammac stated at the time that such incidents hurt “the community at large.”