Irresponsible Gun Owner: 2-year-old Shoots Mother With Pistol Found Inside Their Home

NEW WINCHESTER, INDIANA — Another week, another tragic case of a toddler finding an unsecured gun in his home.

Around 9:20 a.m. on October 4^th, the Hendricks County Sheriff’s Department received a 911 call reporting a shooting.  Officers arriving at the home in the 6000 block of US Highway 36, about 20 miles west of Indianapolis in the incorporated village of New Winchester, found a 40-year-old woman suffering from a gunshot wound. She was transported to a Indianapolis hospital where she is listed in stable condition.

Authorities say that a 2-year-old child found a semi-automatic pistol inside the residence and shot his mother.  A 5-year-old sibling called his grandmother, who then notified authorities.

Neither child was injured, and the woman’s husband and a third child were not at home at the time of the incident.  It is believed that the gun belonged to a family member.  The incident is being investigated by Hendricks County detectives and Child Protective Services.

Fortunately, the gunshot wound to the mother does not appear to be life-threatening…but it could have just as easily been fatal and left three children motherless. 

It should go without saying that any and all firearms in a home must be secured at all times.  If the person responsible for the gun is not carrying it on their person, it needs to be safely locked away in a secure location. A gun owner must know with one-hundred percent certainty where their gun or guns are at any given moment, and must know that any gun not in their immediate possession is safely and securely stored where it is inaccessible to children, teens, and unauthorized adults.