2-Year-Old Texas Boy Accidentally Shot Himself in the Head After Finding Loaded Gun in His Uncle's Bag

A two-year-old boy in Texas died after he shot himself in the head using a gun he found in the backpack of a family member, police said.

According to KSAT, police were called to the University Club Apartments at N. Martin Luther King Blvd. in Waco at about 6 p.m. Wednesday for a possible shooting.

When the Waco police officers arrived, they found the toddler with a gunshot wound in his head. The two-year-old boy was immediately taken to Baylor Scott and White Medical Center-Hillcrest Hospital, where he later died.

While at the scene, police investigators learned that the two-year-old boy found the gun in the backpack belonging to a 21-year-old family member.

At this point of the investigation, investigators believed that the toddler may have accidentally shot himself after finding the gun from his uncle's backpack.

Uncle of Texas Boy Arrested

Derrick Damon Pipkins Jr., the owner of the firearm and the boy's uncle, took the weapon and fled the scene after the shooting incident.

When he returned, the Waco Police Department said he was arrested and was charged with tampering with physical evidence. As of Thursday, Pipkins remained in jail under a $10,000 bond.

Court records showed that Pipkins was already arrested in June 2019 after his girlfriend, the mother of his unborn child at the time, reported that he fired five shots at her and her uncle.

Pipkins was placed on deferred adjudication probation last July after pleading guilty to two counts of deadly conduct in a plea bargain.

Unintentional Shootings by Children in the U.S.

Based on the 2020 record by Everytown, they have recorded at least 369 unintentional shootings by children in the U.S., which resulted in 142 deaths and 242 injuries.

So far this year, there were already 272 unintentional shootings by children that resulted in 111 deaths and 175 injuries.

Twenty-three cases of those unintentional shootings by kids were recorded in Texas. Last July, a five-year-old boy in Waco suffered a gunshot wound to his left leg after finding a gun in the backseat of his mother's car.

Based on the report of Nationwide Children's Hospital, about 1,300 children under 18 die from shootings each year.

The report said one in three families with children has at least one gun in the house. It was estimated that more than 22 million children are living in homes with guns.

The report further noted that most of the victims of unintentional shootings are boys, who are mostly shot by a friend or relative, especially a brother.

The report also cited some gun safety tips like removing all guns from home and always keep the gun in the house unloaded and locked.

It added that guns should be out of children's reach and sight, and the firearms and ammunition should be locked separately.

According to Project Child Safe, gun parts should also be securely stored in separate locations if disassembled.

This article is owned by Latin Post

Written by: Jess Smith

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