Two recent tragic gun incidents involving very young children. First off, a St. Louis toddler is lucky to be recovering after he made the mistake of startling his mother:
Police are investigating after a woman brought her 2-year-old son to a hospital with a gunshot wound to his hand, saying she accidentally shot him.
Police believe the shooting happened at about 4 p.m. inside a home in the 5400 block of Oriole Street.
A police source said the child's mother said she shot the child when he came up behind her, startling her while she was holding the gun.
That toddler is lucky to be recovering, reportedly in stable condition. A four-year-old Philadelphia girl wasn’t so lucky:
Philadelphia police say the parent of a 4-year-old girl who was killed inside a home in the Kensington section of the city has confessed to accidentally shooting her.
It happened around 2:30 p.m. Saturday inside a home along the 200 block of East Mayfield Street.
Investigators say the man, who was either the girl’s father or stepfather, told them he was playing with a gun when it went off and struck the girl in the face. She died inside the home.
Why these parents felt the need to not only keep guns anywhere near toddlers is one thing, but to have them out of a gun safe and be actively handling them in the home while kids are around? Irresponsible and tragic.