ANDERSON COUNTY, SC -- A local toddler is dead after he shot himself in the head with a deputy's gun.
The Greenville News is reporting an Anderson County deputy who lives in the home had left his gun on a bedroom counter before leaving the home to run errands.
Two-year-old Josiah Tate found the gun and was playing with it when it went off, killing him, according to Anderson County Deputy Coroner Don McCown.
The State Law Enforcement Division has been called in to investigate.
According to Kids Health, young children possess the finger strength needed to pull the trigger on a firearm.
Kids Health recommends that guns be kept locked and unloaded, and the ammunition should be stored separately.
Hiding a gun is not enough. Guns and ammo both should be locked away.
Store the keys for the gun and the ammunition in a different area from where you store household keys. Keep the keys out of reach of children.
Lock up gun-cleaning supplies, which are often poisonous.
When handling or cleaning a gun, adults should never leave the gun unattended.
According to the National Rifle Association, teach your kids to follow these rules if they come into contact with a gun:
1) stop
2) don't touch
3) remove yourself from the area.
4) tell an adult
More than a third (35%) of homes with children—that's 22 million children ages 18 and under in more than 11 million homes—had at least one firearm, found researchers in a RAND-UCLA study.
But only 39 percent of these families keep their firearms locked, unloaded, and separate from ammunition as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Forty-three percent of these U.S. homes with children and guns reported keeping one or more firearms in an unlocked place and without a trigger lock. Nine percent keep their guns loaded as well as unlocked.
Peggy Prater Mcmillan
12:25 pm on Thursday, July 5, 2012
A deputy coroner with a gun leaves it where a toddler can grab it, and shoot his self in the head. Are guns light enough an the trigger that easy to use? Sounds a little strange.
Smokey
1:10 pm on Thursday, July 5, 2012
Ma'am, yes, from composite Glocks to Kel-Tec .380's, a two year old has the ability to not only pick it up but also to fire the weapon. Sadly enough even trained Law Enforcement Officers fail to realize that fact and a child dies needlessly. Add the issue that he'll probably lose his carreer and we have a tragedy multiplied.
Peggy Prater Mcmillan
1:34 pm on Thursday, July 5, 2012
Smokey, thank you for the info. I had no idea. Thank you.
Trisha Lynn Dragon
1:57 pm on Thursday, July 5, 2012
I think the Deputy here made a fairly serious error, but san's any real information to the contrary, this is 100% the fault of whomever was charged with watching the kid.
The "Deputy lives in the home" lead's me to believe this is a roommate situation. There is a much higher expectation that the room the gun was in was 100% off limits than in a family type scenario.
Leaving a loaded weapon unsecured is massively stupid regardless of the situation IMO. Kid or no kid, loaded weapons do NOT belong laying on a freaking table.
Deb Collins
2:06 pm on Thursday, July 5, 2012
He may lose his job but he will also have to live with the tragedy for the rest of his life. My thoughts and prayers go out to him as well as friends and family members of the child.
Angel
2:44 pm on Thursday, July 5, 2012
there is NO excuse for this.. the deputy and whoever else was in the house.. but I know they will NEVER get over this.. because 48 years ago, while visiting her parents home in So ILL., my neighbor's 2yo wandered into his, grandfather's bedroom, pushed a chair to his grandfathers dresser, opened the draw enough to pull the gun out and it discharged.. my son was the same age.. they played together.. and as he grew to adulthood, I often thought of his little buddy who didn't...
Join Patch
9:20 pm on Thursday, July 5, 2012
Other outlets are reporting the deputy claims the baby also loaded the gun. Yeah...something is fishy about the whole thing.