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Florida: After parents leave loaded gun unattended, two-year-old son accidentally shoots and kills father

Miami, United States Edited By: Vyomica BerryUpdated: Jun 07, 2022, 02:43 PM IST
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In this combination of images, Orange County Sheriff John Mina can be seen along with Reggie Mabry. Photograph:(Twitter)

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The child's mother Marie Ayala was providing CPR to her husband, Reggie Mabry when the police officers arrived at the victim's home near Orlando after they were alerted by a 911 call

With the Texas shooting triggering a debate on stricter gun laws, a two-year-old accidentally shot and killed his father in Florida. According to the local authorities, the toddler's parents had left a loaded gun unattended.

The child's mother Marie Ayala was providing CPR to her husband, Reggie Mabry when the police officers arrived at the victim's home near Orlando after they were alerted by a 911 call.

Orange County Sheriff John Mina said at a news conference that law enforcement initially believed that Reggie shot himself.

But later during the investigation, the eldest of the couple's three children later told investigators that the trigger was pulled by his two-year-old brother.

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According to court documents, Reggie was playing a video game on a computer while his gun was in a bag that Mabry had left on the ground and the child accidentally shot his father in the back after he found it.

The traumatic incident was witnessed by all five family members who were in the same room at the time, including a five-month-old girl.

Mina said that there were both parents were on parole at the time following multiple offenses of child neglect and drug use.

"Gun owners that do not properly secure their firearms are just one split second away from one of these tragedies happening in their homes," Mina said. 

"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," the sheriff added.

A similar incident had occurred last year in August when another two-year-old child found her mother's gun in her Paw Patrol backpack, while she taking part in a video conference and she accidentally shot her mother in the head.

(With inputs from agencies)

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