4-Year-Old Boy Visiting Grandmother In Georgia Fatally Shoots Himself

A 4-year-old boy died after he accidentally shot himself with a gun at his grandmother’s home in Georgia, authorities said.

The incident occurred Friday night just after 8.30 p.m. while the boy was visiting his grandmother at the Pendleton Home Apartments at 3401 Houston Avenue in Macon, said the coroner's office. The victim, Kameron Ross of Warner Robins, was rushed to a hospital for treatment but was pronounced dead at 9.21 p.m. the same night, according to the officials.

The sheriff’s office said that the boy found the firearm inside the apartment and accidentally discharged it shooting himself. Police did not reveal the type of gun used in the incident. Investigators said they believe the gun was bought inside the apartment by two teens -- a 14-year-old boy and a 16-year-old boy -- who live in the apartment.

“Investigators interviewed all witnesses and the two juveniles were released into the custody of family,” the sheriff’s statement added, according to the Telegraph of Macron.

Officers arrested the victim’s grandmother, 50-year-old Kawana Liggins, and charged her with tampering with evidence.

The child’s death marks the first violent death by a firearm in more than a month in Macon. The last shooting in the area occurred on Aug. 1 at Macon Mall, the outlet reported.

The shooting remains under investigation. Additional charges may be added to the case, the report said.

Over 27,000 people are hospitalized each year from firearm injuries. Even though the majority of these cases remain non-fatal, nearly 500 people die each year from injuries sustained during accidental shootings in the U.S., says non-profit Educational Fund To Stop Gun Violence.

According to a decade-long study conducted from 2005-2015 by the National Library of Medicine, 28.3% of unintentional gun deaths occur while the victims play with a firearm.

In a similar incident last month, a 3-year-old Louisiana toddler accidentally shot himself with a gun that he found at the foot of his bed. The toddler was living with his mother and her 19-year-old boyfriend in a travel trailer. All of them had gone to bed when the toddler caught hold of the gun and accidentally discharged it. The mother drove the toddler to a hospital but he was pronounced dead within minutes of arriving at the hospital.