A two-year-old boy was shot and killed by his three-year-old brother Friday evening in Gary, according to police.
Gary Police spokesman Cmdr, Sam Roberts said in a release Saturday that officers were sent around 7:21 p.m. Nov. 17 to Methodist Hospitals Northlake Campus for the shooting of a two-year-old boy. They spoke with the child’s mother, who said he’d been shot after her three-year-old found a gun in her purse when she’d left a bedroom, Roberts said.
Officers were then sent to secure a home in the 2100 block of Georgia Street, where the shooting allegedly occurred, Roberts said. The boy, meanwhile, died as a result of the shooting, he said.
Gary Mayor Jerome Prince and Gary Police Chief Anthony Titus offered their condolences in a release Saturday evening. They reminded residents that the department offers gun locks free of charge.
“Our hearts and prayers go out to the loved ones of the two-year-old child who was so tragically taken from our community. We understand nothing we say will ease the pain these tragedies cause in our community,” they said. “This case is under investigation, but it’s a difficult reminder of the responsibility we all have as adults in properly securing any firearms and devices that may become weapons in the hands of innocent children. Adults must become fully responsible when in possession of all firearms.
“Clearly, we must do more to protect our community members from accidents like these, and we are going to act now. We have free gun locks available at our Gary Police Department, 555 Polk St., and we are ordering many more. We will determine the best way to issue these free and potentially life-saving devices throughout our community.”
The boy is the second death resulting from a child getting a hold of a gun in just less than three months. On August 30, Edan Oliver Johnson, 5, of Chicago, was visiting relatives in the 2400 block of Filmore Street when he got ahold of a handgun that was left on a table by 32-year-old man who had fallen asleep in the house. Police said he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
In September, a 4-year-old Gary boy shot and injured himself after he found an unsecured gun inside his mom’s purse while his parents were watching TV and taking a shower.
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.