Louisville Metro Police Department released new details in their investigation of the fatal shooting of an eight-year-old.
Police were called to a home on Bardstown Road in Fern Creek Saturday night.
They found the child dead from what they describe as a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Louisville Metro Police Department said Monday that two adults were in the house at the time, but the child was alone in a room with a gun.
Police believe the shooting was accidental, and no charges are expected.
However, the death of an eight-year-old is the latest case in a growing concern surrounding the unsafe storage of firearms.
“It is becoming more and more common to educate on this topic as it is happening,” Norton Children’s Prevention and Wellness Nurse Coordinator Alex Passamonte said. “Unfortunately, more and more people are seeing it on the news, on social media. And so we’re hoping just to continue to educate and to hopefully empower people to have these conversations to try to keep their kids safe.”
Norton Children’s offers safety classes and promotes the triple safe storage method.
“That means that your firearms are unloaded, so all ammunition is removed from the gun,” Passamonte said. “Your ammunition is stored separately in a locked place and your gun is locked.”
According to Norton Children’s Injury Prevention Toolkit, “Firearm injuries are the leading cause of death in children under age 18, occurring most frequently from ages 11 to 15. Around 50% of these injuries take place in the child’s own home after they find the firearm loaded and unlocked.”
Source: WAVE
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