OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. – A 3-year-old boy died after being shot inside a Pontiac apartment in what Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard described as a completely avoidable tragedy.
Bouchard said on Tuesday (Sept. 15) that preliminary information indicates a handgun inside the home was accessible to someone who should not have been able to reach it.
Officials were still working to determine exactly how the shooting happened.
“We have a three-year-old child who is deceased from a gunshot wound from a weapon that was in the home,” Bouchard said during a news conference.
The shooting occurred in the 100 block of Maynard Court.
Police said the boy was taken to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Bouchard said two adults and five children were inside the home at the time, including the boy’s mother and grandmother, as well as children ages eight, seven, three and eight months.
Officials recovered a Taurus handgun from the home.
Bouchard said the crime scene team had not yet moved the firearm and that its caliber had not been determined.
Detectives, forensic investigators and the sheriff’s crime lab were working at the scene Tuesday night.
“A determination of exactly how that played out is, as I said, underway,” Bouchard said. “Someone will be held accountable for this completely unnecessary tragedy.”
Bouchard stressed the responsibility that comes with owning a firearm, particularly in a home where children are present.
“If you’re an adult and you own a weapon and you have an eight-month-old, a three-year-old, a seven-year-old and an eight-year-old in the house, by God, use common sense,” Bouchard said. “Keep this weapon out of the hands of this child.”
Other children remain with investigators
The other children who were inside the home remained with detectives and other officials as investigators determined who could appropriately care for them, Bouchard said.
Bouchard said the boy’s father was not inside the home when the shooting occurred.
Officials were still determining who lived at the residence and who was responsible for the children at the time.
Bouchard said preliminary information indicates the father owned the handgun.
“It’s still a work in progress of who actually lives there, who would be the responsible adult,” Bouchard said.
Sheriff urges gun owners to secure firearms
Bouchard said the shooting underscores the importance of properly securing firearms around children.
The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office has provided free gun locks for more than a decade, Bouchard said, and will continue making them available to residents.
“If that’s the only impediment, we have them free here, and we’ll give them to anyone that needs or wants one,” Bouchard said.
Bouchard also urged gun owners to consider the safety of children and other people who may enter their homes.
“Think about your kids. Think about the safety of who comes into the home, even if it’s not your child,” Bouchard said.
Investigation continues
Officials were processing the home for evidence, examining the firearm for forensic evidence, and interviewing people who were inside, Bouchard said.
Police were also working to establish a timeline, including where each person was inside the home when the shooting occurred.
“They’ll be taking this by the numbers to make sure that it’s done right because obviously you’ve got a death here that has to have some accountability,” Bouchard said.
Bouchard also said the department would check on deputies and other personnel who responded to the scene, noting the emotional impact that incidents involving children can have on first responders.
The investigation remains ongoing.
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