A pregnant woman and her unborn child died last week in the US state of Ohio after her two-year-old son shot her in the back with a loaded handgun in the home, police said.
Police Chief David Smith told local media Tuesday that Laura Ilg, 31, called 911 on the afternoon of June 16.
“She explained that she was 33 weeks pregnant and that her two-year-old son had accidentally shot her in the back with a firearm,” Smith told local ABC affiliate News 5 Cleveland.
On Friday, police rushed to the home in Norwalk, Ohio, and Ilg was rushed to the hospital, but her unborn baby could not be saved after an emergency C-section, Smith said.
Ilg died of his injuries hours later, he added.
Earlier Saturday, the Norwalk Police Department said on its Facebook page that it offered “deepest and heartfelt condolences to the family, friends and all affected by the tragic passing of the young mother and her unborn child.”
Ilg was conscious when police arrived and told officers that her son had somehow entered the room that was normally locked while she was doing laundry and began playing with the gun, according to Smith.
He said police found a 9mm Sig Sauer Micro pistol on a nightstand, as well as two other loaded firearms. Ilg’s husband, who was not home at the time of the incident, said they belonged to him, according to news reports.
The accidental shooting is the latest in a long line of such incidents in the United States, a country of about 330 million people and some 400 million guns.
In March, a three-year-old girl accidentally killed her four-year-old sister with a gun near Houston, Texas, despite the presence of five adults, including her parents, at her home.
About 40 percent of American households have guns, according to the Pew Research Center, and most of those also include children.
But less than half of households with guns store them safely, according to the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health.
Police Chief Smith said some security measures had been put in place at Ilg’s home, but urged gun owners to take precautions.
“Trigger locks, gun safes, there are a million varieties, they are not that expensive. At the very least, leave them (the guns) unloaded,” he told News 5.