4-Year-Old Boy Fatally Shoots Cousin After Finding Unsecured Gun in Car

(police investigation. Photo Credit: ABC News)

A 4-year-old boy fatally shot his 2-year-old cousin using a handgun left unsecured in a car, according to Florida authorities. 

Osceola County Sheriff Chris Blackmon said officers responded to a home in Kissimmee on Sunday afternoon after a 2-year-old boy, identified as Brayden Tennyson, was found with a gunshot wound.

He was rushed to hospital but was later pronounced dead. According to the sheriff’s office, Brayden would have turned 3 the following Tuesday.

Investigators said the two children had been left alone in the car when the older boy located a gun belonging to Brayden’s mother, which had been left unsecured, and it discharged, striking Brayden.

Blackmon described the weapon as having been left completely exposed, telling reporters that keeping a firearm holstered might at least make it harder for a child to handle, but in this case it had simply been lying out in the open, making it easy to pick up and accidentally fire, an act he noted could never be undone.

The family, who had travelled from Louisville, Georgia, to Florida on vacation, were staying at a rental property at the time.

According to the sheriff’s office, relatives were still outside the vehicle and had not yet entered the house when they heard a gunshot coming from inside the car.

The sheriff said investigations are continuing and that charges are likely to follow. Prosecutors said on Wednesday that, given the case remains active and ongoing, no further details could be released at this time.