3-Year-Old Washington Boy Dies After Accidentally Shooting Himself In The Head

A 3-year-old boy in Washington died after he accidentally shot himself in the head with a handgun, authorities said.

Deputies from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office responded to the 7100 block of SW Millennium Terrace in Aloha at around 9:49 p.m. EDT on Friday after the boy’s family informed cops that he found a handgun in a bedroom end table drawer and shot himself in the head with it, the department said in a news release Saturday.

Officials from the Metro West and Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue worked to revive the boy, identified as James Kenneth Lindquester, before rushing him to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead just before midnight, the release added.

Detectives from the Violent Crimes Unit and the Special Investigations Unit responded to the scene and an investigation is ongoing.

The child was home with his father, the father’s girlfriend and another child when the incident happened, KOIN-TV reported Friday, citing the Washington County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies told the station the boy was alone in the room when the gun went off.

This comes five months after a 3-year-old Missouri boy died after accidentally shooting himself in the head. Deputies arrived to find the boy already rushed to the hospital with a gunshot wound. The boy died at the hospital. A subsequent investigation revealed that a teen was present in the home when the incident took place but it was not immediately known to whom the weapon belonged. The case was being investigated by the city’s homicide and child abuse units.

According to Healthychildren.org, a parenting website backed by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), unintentional shootings can happen to children of all ages, causing fatal injuries. The website, hence, urges parents to keep their guns properly preserved and away from children or adolescents, who are at higher risk of committing suicide. It also urges caregivers to keep tabs on the other houses their children go to play, to ensure they don’t have an unlocked gun.