Toddler Shoots Mother With Shotgun From Car's Backseat, Woman Survives

A woman was critically injured after her child accidentally shot her in the torso with a shotgun from the backseat of a car, police said Wednesday. The incident took place in Norwalk, California.

Deputies were called to the 14600 block of Dinard Street after receiving information regarding a "rescue responding, assault with a deadly weapon, gunshot victim." The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said the shooting took place just steps away from a preschool.

Police said occupants of the car, three children in the backseat and another woman and young child in the front passenger seat were not injured. All of the children were under four.

Preliminary information show one of the children picked up an unsecured shotgun and shot the woman through the back of the seat. She was taken to a local hospital and doctors said that despite her critical condition she is expected to survive. It remains unclear if she would face any negligence charges.

Police said the weapon was recovered. All four children are currently in the custody of Department of Children and Family Services.

An investigation is underway and no arrests have been made, Lt. Blanca Arevalo of the Norwalk Sheriff’s Station said.

It is necessary that parents take extra care and not leave weapons unattended to, if there are children around.

In December 2018, a child accidentally shot himself in the face after getting his hand on a .45 semi-automatic stored in a pocket behind the front passenger seat of a car. Investigators said the child was with his mom in the car outside a fast food restaurant. Police said the mother was unaware there was a gun in the car. The weapon was left behind in the vehicle by the father few days earlier.

In another incident of a child obtaining a weapon, an 8-year-old shot his younger sister multiple times with a rifle at the family’s home in Ohio. The mother left her children home alone while she went out for work. Alyssa Mae Edwards, 27, of Hayesville, was charged with two counts of endangering children, one a felony and the other a misdemeanor, Ashland County Sheriff’s Office officials said.