PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — The 9mm handgun that killed a 2-year-old in Port St. Lucie Tuesday night was unsecured and owned by the mother's fiancé, police say.
The Port St. Lucie Police Department released more details on the 2-year-old who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. They say a total of five adults and two children were in the residence in the 5700 block of NW Zenith Drive when the shooting occurred.
WATCH: Police recovered two unsecured firearms from Port St. Lucie residence
The mother, 24, was in the master bedroom with the 2-year-old, while the mother's 24-year-old fiancé, as well as his sister, father and grandmother, were in other areas of a house. An infant child was also in the residence.
Police say the mother heard the gunshot and then saw the 2-year-old child with a gunshot wound to his head, and the gun next to him. The 2-year-old was transported to HCA Florida Lawnwood Hospital and later pronounced dead.
Two handguns were seized from the residence; police say the fiancé owned both guns, and both were kept unsecured in the master bedroom.
Police tell WPTV the 2-year-old found a loaded gun behind the bed in the master bedroom, and police found another loaded firearm under a pile of diapers on a chair. Port St. Lucie police provided photos of both from the scene.
Officer Brittany Holly was on the scene Tuesday night.
“It's a tragedy we hope no family has to ever go through,” said Holly.
Holly told WPTV it’s a tragedy that didn't have to happen.
"It was absolutely avoidable,” said Holly.
WPTV’s Tyler Hatfield spoke to a neighbor, Wycliffe Lew, who’s still shocked.
“How can you leave your gun laying around like that, with kids in the house,” said Lew. “These people don’t learn safety first.”
Officer Holly tells me this is just another grim reminder about the importance of gun safety inside a home with children.
“Treat every firearm like it's loaded, even if it's not,” said Holly.
Officer Holly points to Florida law — which says all loaded firearms needs to be in a secured and locked place in a home with anyone under the age of 16.
“A safe, a trigger lock, things like that,” said Holly. “Where they cannot be readily accessible to that firearm.”
Police say this is an ongoing investigation.
