A Florida family has plunged into mourning after a 4-year-old boy fatally shot himself in the head while playing with his father’s handgun. The horrific incident occurred when the toddler, Chosen Morris, discovered the weapon in his parents’ car.
According to the New York Post, the family was getting ready to go out for pizza, and Chosen decided to wait for everyone in the vehicle. The report, citing a statement from Davenport police, detailed that while waiting, Chosen discovered his father’s Smith & Wesson M&P .40 calibre gun under the driver’s seat and accidentally pulled the trigger.
Police Chief Steve Parker explained that the parents promised to buy Chosen a present after they had dinner and added, “We believe Chosen was excited about going out that evening and got into the car to wait for the rest of the family and in doing so found the firearm underneath the seat and while playing with it discharged and caused his fatal injuries.”
According to Parker, Chosen’s mother, Quinta, was inside the house when she heard a “pop” sound. Initially, she thought her children had broken something and went to confront them. When she spoke to her two older children, her 11-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son, they denied causing the sound.
That was when the 32-year-old mother went in search of her youngest child and discovered him in the car in the garage. She found her 2-year-old son in the front seat, suffering from a gunshot wound.
The mother, being a nursing student, sprang into action and aided her son’s wounds while the family rushed him to the hospital that was around two miles away. Tragically, Chosen succumbed to his injuries Saturday afternoon, according to Parker, who spoke at a briefing streamed by Fox 13 Tampa.
The police were told by the child’s father, Robert, that the firearm is used for personal protection while he is travelling back and forth from work. The police reported that the father forgot about the firearm in the vehicle when he returned home on Thursday. The weapon remained there on Friday because he did not have work.
Parker described the family as devastated as he recalled meeting them and expressed, I can’t even imagine what they’re going through.” The New York Post reported that Parker said he did not want to charge the parents, but he would need to deliberate with prosecutors.