Southwest

3-Year-Old Son Shoots Mother in Davie: Police

A 3-year-old boy shot his mother in the leg early Monday in Davie, police said.

The shooting happened shortly before 4 a.m. at a home in the 4800 block of Southwest 59th Terrace.

Police said the toddler somehow got a hold of the gun and shot his mother in the leg. The family was taking the woman to the hospital when they flagged down an officer who called fire rescue.

She was taken to Memorial East Hospital in Hollywood with non-life threatening injuries.

Officers with the Broward County Sheriff's Office child protective team were at the house Monday afternoon interviewing family members in order to determine how the child got a hold of the gun. It is believed that multiple generations of a family reside in the home together.

"From what I am gathering the weapon is not usually stored where the weapon was. It was in a position or a place where the child could gain access to it easily," Davie Police spokesman Capt. Dale Engle said.

The child is expected to stay with the relatives in that house.

It is possible that charges could be brought against an adult in the home for not securing the gun properly, police said.

"It is definitely something we are looking at and I do anticipate at some point that charges may be brought forth towards the parents once we determine who actually owns the weapon," Engle said.

Engle also added that is is a "myth" that a small child is not strong enough to pull the trigger of a gun.

"If you can squeeze your hand then you can discharge a weapon, and there is an obvious fascination with weapons with all kids," he said.

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