An accidental shooting Sunday left a 2-year-old boy dead in northwest Houston.
Police said the boy found a 9mm pistol and shot himself in the head early Sunday afternoon in the 8400 block of Knox Street at Acres Homes.
Media outlets report the boy was rushed to Texas Children’s Hospital and later died.
Police said the shooting is under investigation and they will determine whether they will file any charges.
"This is a tragic, tragic, incident,” said David Angelo, the Special Victims Chief of Houston Police Department. “Unfortunately it's something that didn't need to happen but hopefully, parents can heed this advice, so nothing like this happens again it's very traumatic."
News 88.7 In-Depth recently looked at gun-storage safety:
Current state law (in Section 46.13 of the Texas Penal Code) requires gun owners to ensure loaded weapons are inaccessible to children 16 and under.
Gov. Abbott wants to raise the age to 17, include unloaded guns and increase the penalty for violations.
But the reality looks different. A recent study by Harvard, Columbia and Northeastern universities finds of gun-owning households with children in the U.S., 20 percent kept their guns loaded and unlocked in 2015.
Find “Are Stricter Gun Storage Laws Part Of The Solution To School Shootings?” by Florian Martin here.