A dad was shot to death by the 2-year-old son he was feeding when the toddler got his tiny hands on a 40-caliber Glock pistol and fired a fatal shot, according to published reports.
The Charlotte Observer reports the victim, Markovia LaShawn Durham, 29, was killed in Gastonia, N.C., around 8:45 p.m. Sunday. A police report stated information about the incident was “juvenile information shielded by law.”
The child’s grandmother, in whose house the shooting happened, said the child was playing with the firearm.
flashing lights of the police car into the checkpoint in the city
(ChiccoDodiFC/Shutterstock)
“He thought it was a toy,” she said.
After firing the shot, the child dropped the handgun and ran outside, according to local reports.
The boy’s grandma told news station WSOC that the child knows something is wrong, but doesn’t fully understand what happened. She described the boy and Durham as very close. The child and his parents were visiting the boy’s grandmother when Durham was shot.
The Gaston Gazette reports that police have not said who owns the gun or how it found its way into the hands of a child. Gaston County District Attorney Travis Page called the shooting “a horrible situation for everyone involved.” He also said no “conclusive determinations” would be made until the police finished their investigation.
