2-Year-Old Boy Accidentally Kills Self With Gun He Found In Older Brother's Room

A 2-year-old boy in Texas lost his life after he accidentally shot himself with a gun he found in his older sibling's room.

The shooting took place early Tuesday in Arlington at a home on Pocassett Drive.

Arlington Police received a call around 12:30 a.m. from a mother, who reported that her son was bleeding, according to WFAA. A neighbor had also made a 911 call around the same time after hearing the sound of a gunshot in the area.

Officers reached the home and found the mother holding the toddler, who sustained an apparent gunshot. The baby was rushed to a hospital but he succumbed to his injuries.

The Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office later identified the young victim as Rio Carrington.

Police said there were five children and one adult inside the house when the shooting took place.

Sgt. Courtney White, with the Arlington Police Department, expressed grief and said it's an overall "bad situation" when a child loses their life in such accidents. The officer also urged gun owners to keep their weapons safe, especially if there are children at home.

"It's always a sad and unfortunate situation when a child is injured in any kind of way. So, arriving on scene and seeing a child with a gunshot wound to the face, it's disheartening. It's mentally draining, emotionally draining and just overall a bad situation," White said. "This is why we enforce and try to tell the public, please lock your handguns up. Now, this mom is going to have to bury her young child."

Investigators believe the toddler found the gun in his older brother's room and pulled the trigger on himself.

"A child is dead and a mother is going to have to basically bury her baby because the child located a firearm and harmed himself," White added, as quoted by NBC DFW.

Officials are still investigating who the gun actually belongs to, how it wound up in the sibling's room and how the toddler got his hands on it before his untimely death.

"Please lock your handguns up. They can get into the wrong hands or they can get into a child's hands, and something this serious and unfortunate can happen," White warned, adding that the Arlington Police Department has hundreds of gunlocks that the public can take and use for free.

"This is easily preventable. We try to tell the public to be good, responsible firearm owners, meaning if your weapon is not in use or not on the firing range, you need to lock it up," she added.