Arlington Police are investigating the death of a 2-year-old boy who got a hold of a gun and accidentally shot himself, officers say.
Around 12:30 a.m. on Tuesday, officers were called to a home in the 5300 block of Pocassett Drive after a woman said her son was bleeding. Around the same time, a neighbor called police to report hearing a gunshot.
When officers arrived, they found a toddler with a gunshot wound.
"It's always a sad and unfortunate situation when a child is injured in any kind of way, so arriving on scene and seeing a child with a gunshot wound to the face is disheartening," said Sgt. Courtney White with the Arlington Police Department. "It's mentally draining, emotionally draining, and just an overall a bad situation."
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The 2-year-old was taken to the hospital but later died. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office identified him as Rio Carrington.
"A child is dead and a mother is going to have to basically bury her baby because the child located a firearm and harmed himself," said White.
Police believe the toddler found the gun in an older brother's bedroom and believe he was in the room by himself at the time of the shooting.
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No one has been arrested and detectives are interviewing everyone who was home, according to White.
She said detectives are tracing where the gun came from to know who it belonged to and how it got into the house.
POLICE URGE GUN SAFETY
Officers are also taking this time to remind people to secure their firearms.
"Please lock your handguns up. They can get into the wrong hands or they can get into a child's hands, and something this serious and unfortunate can happen," said White. "And now, this mom is going to have to bury this young child."
She said they have hundreds of gunlocks that they can provide to the public for free. The Arlington Police Department is located at 620 West Division Street.
“This is easily preventable. We try to tell the public to be good, responsible firearm owners, meaning if your weapon is not in use or not on the firing range, you need to lock it up," said White.
