2-Year-Old Shoots Dad Dead Using A Rifle: Police

A 2-year-old child in St. Louis, Missouri, accidentally shot his father in the back and killed him over the weekend, police said.

The incident happened inside a home at the Clinton-Peabody public housing complex in the 1400 block of Castle Lane, south of downtown St. Louis, Saturday night, 5 On Your Side and KMOV 4 reported, citing St. Louis police.

Authorities found the unnamed shooting victim — a man in his 20s — unconscious and not breathing. He was pronounced dead at the scene, and police confirmed that his death was a homicide. The man's name was not disclosed.

A preliminary investigation suggested that the man's 2-year-old son was handling a rifle when the weapon went off, local newspaper The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. It was not disclosed how the child got hold of the firearm.

Police said an unnamed woman was also present in the home when the incident happened, but it was unclear whether she will face any charges over the shooting, KMOV 4 reported.

No other details have been released thus far. Homicide detectives are still investigating.

The incident is the second fatal shooting in the St. Louis neighborhood this week. The first happened in the 1400 block of Hickory Lane Monday night, and it resulted in the death of 50-year-old Jerome Taylor.

Taylor was fatally shot after he went outside to investigate gunfire near an apartment complex, police said.

A similar incident to Saturday's shooting occurred at a home in Gastonia, North Carolina, in August when a 2-year-old boy picked up a gun and accidentally shot and killed his father.

Markovia Lashawn Durham, 29, was sitting on a couch in his West Fifth Avenue home on Aug. 8 when his 2-year-old child picked up a gun from behind him and pulled the trigger.

The weapon involved in the incident was sitting out on a table, and the child found it, picked it up and accidentally discharged it.

Police who responded to the shooting found Durham dead after suffering from gunshot wounds.

Gastonia Police Criminal Investigations took charge in investigating the incident. No charges were filed over the shooting.