CHESTERFIELD, Va. (WWBT/Gray News) – A man is in critical condition after a child got his hands on his gun and accidentally shot him Monday morning, authorities said.
According to police, officers were called to a home in the 4400 block of Butler Lane shortly before 10 a.m. for an alleged shooting.
When officers arrived, they found a man with a gunshot wound.
The victim was flown to hospital by helicopter.
Police believe the victim prepared to leave and placed his gun on a nearby chair.
Shortly afterwards, a two-year-old child grabbed the gun.
“The child accidentally fired the gun and shot the victim,” Chesterfield police said.
No one else in the house, including the child, was injured.
Neighbors called the incident a bizarre accident and said they never expected something like this to happen in their small community.
Lisa Wood says she is practically a second mother to the people in the house where the shooting took place. She describes the victim and the toddler as happy, kind people with only good intentions.
She says the victim’s girlfriend called her immediately after the incident and she rushed over.
“The little boy is a carefree little boy. He’s always playing. He’s very happy. You never really see him in a bad mood. He always wants to play and he always wants to smile,” Wood said. “After I got to the house, he was sitting there like a normal kid. It’s not like he was worried or anything. He’s still smiling. I just don’t understand what really happened.”
Wood has lived in the Ettrick neighborhood where the incident occurred for more than a decade, raising her children and caring for many others.
She says it’s a friendly, quiet place.
Other neighbors feel the same way, saying that occasional loud parties are the only activity there is, which is why people were shocked to see police lights on their street in the morning.
“They’re good people. They know people make mistakes and this is a really big learning experience for everyone,” said neighbor April Hill. “Not just for the family, but it’s very close to home. If it happened there, it can happen anywhere.”
The incident draws increased attention to gun safety in the neighborhood, especially because it is located near Virginia State University, where neighbors were shocked by a shooting just a week earlier.
“It’s definitely a learning experience. I think it’s terrible that something extremely bad had to happen and my family really feels for me, but this is a story I can tell my kids when they’re a little older,” Hill said.
Both gun owners and non-gun owners in the region agree that better protection is needed, especially when it comes to locking firearms.
“We need to be more careful with our kids and not just leave guns anywhere, especially if they’re loaded,” Wood said. “I think there should be more gun training because I think the magazine should have been removed from the gun or the bullets, whatever was there, should have been removed from the cartridge. The ammunition should have been removed before it was put anywhere a child could reach it and I think that’s a lesson for this community.”
Area residents say that going forward, they will talk about gun safety, be there for each other and continue to build on the neighborly support in their area to protect future children.
“It’s hard to just say everything will be OK because I’m not in that position and I really don’t know how she feels, but all I can do is give her my love,” Wood said.
Chesterfield Police say investigations are ongoing.
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