A Florida mother accidentally shot her son Nov. 11 after being startled awake by what she thought was a home intruder, local police said.
“While the mother was sleeping on the couch, she was startled awake by a noise in her kitchen. Fearing that it was an intruder, she removed a firearm that she had concealed in her purse next to her in the living room,” the Pembroke Pines Police Department wrote on Facebook. (RELATED: Mother Whose 6-Year-Old Shot Teacher During Class Pleads Guilty To Felony Charge)
The mother investigated the noise and while she was walking into the kitchen her son walked out simultaneously, police noted. Startled, the mother accidentally discharged the gun twice, police said. One round hit her son non-fatally in the leg while the other hit the floor, the local police state in their Facebook post.
Local police are investigating the case and as of now think that there was no criminal intention by the mother, the Facebook post concludes.
A study of gun-related deaths in the United States in 2021 revealed that about 1% of cases fall into the preventable/accidental category, the National Safety Council reported. Not all such accidental weapons discharges result in death. Back in late September 2023, a grandfather accidentally non-fatally shot his grandson in the shoulder while at a wedding in Nebraska. The grandfather in that instance merely wanted to get everyone’s attention by shooting his antique revolver in the air.