A 2-YEAR-OLD boy accidentally shot and killed his father in Florida after his parents left a loaded gun unattended, said local authorities yesterday.

When police officers, alerted by a 911 call, arrived at the house near Orlando on May 26, they found the child’s mother, Marie Ayala, providing CPR to her husband, Reggie Mabry.

Law enforcement initially believed the 26-year-old, who died shortly afterward in hospital, shot himself, but the eldest of the couple’s three children later told investigators that the trigger was pulled by his brother, Orange County Sheriff John Mina told a news conference.

The gun was in a bag that Mabry left on the ground. The child came across it and shot his father in the back while he was playing a video game on a computer, said court documents.

The five family members, including a 5-month-old girl, were in the same room at the time of the incident.

Both parents were on parole at the time following multiple offenses of child neglect and drug use, said Mina.

“Gun owners who do not properly secure their firearms are just one split second away from one of these tragedies happening in their homes.

“Now these young children have effectively lost both of their parents. Their father is dead, their mother is in jail and a young child has to live their life knowing that he shot his father.”

Such tragedies are not uncommon in the United States.

In August last year, another 2-year-old child found a gun that was left in a Paw Patrol backpack and fatally shot his mother in the head while she took part in a video conference.

The latest accident comes as the debate over gun regulations rages in the country, after several deadly mass shootings in a supermarket, hospital and primary school, among others. – AFP, June 7, 2022.