Police: Pregnant mother shot by her 2-year-old son
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NORWALK, Ohio (WJW) — A pregnant mother and her unborn child died after the woman was shot in the back by her 2-year-old son, according to a Wednesday news release from Norwalk Police Department detectives.
In a 911 call on the afternoon of June 16, the 31-year-old woman told dispatchers she was shot in the back by her son at their Woodlawn Avenue home — and that she was 33 weeks pregnant.
“She explained she was 33 weeks pregnant, and her 2-year-old just accidentally shot her in the back,” Police Chief David Smith told reporters, according to the Associated Press.
Officers arrived three minutes later and forced their way into the home through the locked front door. They found the woman, her son and a loaded semi-automatic pistol in an upstairs bedroom.
“Officers removed the 2-year-old son from the room at the request of [the mother] and began rendering aid to her,” reads the release. “During this, [she] was fully conscious and gave officers a complete account of the events that occurred.”
The woman’s husband also called 911 after receiving a phone call from the woman, who he said was “screaming something about my son and needing to call 911.” He left work and came home, according to the release.
Norwalk firefighters arrived on-scene minutes after police officers, followed by North Central EMS paramedics, who took the woman to Fisher Titus Medical Center. There, doctors performed an emergency cesarean section — but the woman’s unborn son was declared dead shortly after 2 p.m.
The mother was pronounced dead three hours later.
Investigators collected the pistol allegedly used in the shooting, a 9-millimeter Sig Sauer P365 Nitron Micro-compact, along with a single spent shell casing. The gun was loaded with an additional 12 rounds, according to the release.
In a warranted search later at the woman’s home, investigators found “numerous child safety features” like child locks and safety gates. But one of those gates had been left open, Smith said.
The victim was doing laundry in the bedroom, which was usually locked, and apparently didn’t realize the child had followed her before he started playing with the gun and it discharged, Smith said.
Police seized another loaded 12-round magazine for the pistol from the bedroom’s nightstand and a Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun loaded with six rounds in the bedroom’s closet. An airsoft rifle was also seized from a computer room closet.
The investigation is ongoing and includes tests of the pistol’s functionality, according to the news release.
No charges have been filed at this time. The case will be forwarded to the Huron County Prosecutor’s Office for review.
Smith urged families to lock up guns and never leave them loaded and unattended.
“Trigger locks, gun safes, there’s a million varieties, and they aren’t that expensive. At the very least, leave them unloaded,” he said.
“Words truly cannot express how heartbreaking this is, and we cannot imagine the pain and heartache,” the department said in a statement.
Source: WJW FOX 8 News Cleveland
