Crime & Safety

​Toddler, 2½​, Shoots Mom, Younger Sibling With Loaded Gun Stashed In Parents' Truck

A single bullet fired from a gun traveled through a 1½-year-old's leg, then went through the mother's arm and into her chest, police said.

GRANBURY, TX — A 2½-year-old child found a loaded gun in their parents’ pickup truck as it was parked outside a Texas Walmart store Wednesday and accidentally shot their mother and 1½-year-old sibling, police said.

Both the baby and the child’s mother, 23, were taken to a Fort Worth hospital — the baby by ground and the mother by air, according to police in Granbury, located about 40 miles southwest of Fort Worth.

“The baby’s injury is not believed to be life-threatening,” police said in a news release. “The mother’s injury is potentially more serious, but her current condition is not known.”

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Both children were inside the truck about 11:25 a.m. when the older child found the loaded gun stashed between the driver’s seat and console, according to police, who said a single shot was fired as the older toddler handled it.

The bullet went through the soft tissue in the baby’s leg, through the mother’s arm and into the side of her chest area, police said. She was standing outside the truck by the driver’s door when the gun discharged, and the children’s father, 26, was standing behind the truck, according to the release.

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Granbury police Lt. Russell Grizzard told news station WFAA that police are investigating but haven’t yet determined if charges will be filed in the accidental shooting.

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