A 9-month-old boy was shot and killed by his 5-year-old brother in a Missouri home on Monday, police said the boy found his grandfather's 22-caliber magnum revolver that was being kept on a shelf built into the headboard in the master bedroom.
A 9-month-old boy was shot and killed by his 5-year-old brother in a Missouri home on Monday, police said the boy found his grandfather's 22-caliber magnum revolver that was being kept on a shelf built into the headboard in the master bedroom.
The Nodaway County Sheriff's Office was called about 9 a.m. to a home in the 100 block of South Scott Street in Elmo. Sheriff Darren White said the infant's mother was very frantic when she called 911.
"She said that she needed an ambulance at her home, that her 5-year-old son had shot her 9-month-old son in the head with a paintball gun," White said.
Emergency crews scrambled to the home. However, when they arrived on the scene, it was determined that the child had been shot in the head with a .22-caliber magnum revolver. The child was flown from the scene to Children's Mercy Hospital, where he later died. White said the younger child was in a playpen, and the older one found a loaded handgun lying around the bed.
For neighbors, especially those with small children, this is a wake-up call.
"You know, just some gun safety could have come into play, and would have maybe, you know, prevented the situation, but it's just really sad, altogether," neighbor Jessica Hutchison said.
The sheriff's office says the gun actually belonged to another family member, not the mother. Authorities are investigating that aspect of the case now. In the meantime, the other three children are in the custody of relatives.