Florida toddler accidentally shoots and kills mother while she is on a Zoom work call, police say…
By: Timothy Bella
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Florida toddler accidentally shoots and kills mother while she is on a Zoom work call, police say …
A toddler accidentally shot and killed a Florida woman who was on a Zoom call with her co-workers this week, after the child found an unsecured, loaded handgun, police said.
© Olivier Douliery/AFP/Getty Images In this photo illustration, a Zoom App logo is displayed on a smartphone in Arlington, Va.
Shamaya Lynn, 21, has been identified by local media as the mother of the child who fatally shot her Wednesday morning in Altamonte Springs, Fla.
A co-worker on the Zoom call told the Altamonte County Sheriff’s Police Department that they saw a toddler in the background of Lynn’s Orlando-area apartment and heard a noise. Lynn fell backward and never returned to the call, the co-worker told police.
“Shamaya Lynn … appeared to be in need of help,” police said in a news release .
When police and paramedics responded around 11 a.m., they found the 21-year-old with a fatal gunshot wound to her head. First-responders attempted to administer aid, but it was too late, police said.
Authorities soon pieced together what might have happened — and how the toddler got ahold of the firearm.
“Investigators determined that the injury was caused by a toddler who found a loaded handgun, which was left unsecured by an adult in the apartment,” police said.
The handgun belongs to the father of the victim’s two young children, WESH reported. The man in question has yet to be publicly identified.
Neither child was injured during the fatal shooting, police said. They are now in the care of relatives, according to WESH.
An investigation into the shooting is ongoing.
Police are working with the Seminole County State Attorney’s Office to see whether charges will be brought against any person. Todd Brown, a spokesman with the state attorney’s office, told The Washington Post that prosecutors were unable to comment during an active investigation.
Police did not respond to a request from The Washington Post seeking to confirm Lynn’s relationship to the toddler and the owner of the firearm.
The unintentional shooting involving a child is the latest among thousands of such incidents in recent years. There have been at least 2,290 unintentional shootings by children since 2015, including 848 deaths, according to the gun control advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety . There were at least 369 unintentional shootings by young people last year, with 142 deaths. This year, there have been 220 unintentional shootings involving minors, including 83 deaths.
In February, Gabriel Alexis Henderson , a 25-year-old mother of five in North Carolina, was killed after one of her children found a gun in her purse and accidentally fired, police said. In April, Royal Gordon , an 8-month-old boy in Houston, died after his 3-year-old brother found and fired an unsecured gun.
Altamonte Springs Officer Roberto Ruiz Jr. said at a news conference that police will provide a lock to any gun owner who does not own one for their firearm. He said police hope people will step forward and lock up their guns to help prevent another accidental fatal shooting involving a child.
“If you own a firearm, please keep it locked and secured,” Ruiz told reporters. “Incidents like this could be avoided.”
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From coast to coast - the worlds largest shooting gallery. Wonder if Guiness Book of Records has been contacted yet.
I've asked this elsewhere, I'll try again here. If you had to give up either your car/truck or your gun, which one would you give up?
LOL. I see that none of the NT gun-coveters are willing to answer that question. IMO, that makes the answer pretty obvious.
Man, people do some stupid shit. I read an article yesterday where a guy had to go to work but didn’t have anyone to watch his kids, so he dropped them off at his relatives empty house along with his vicious Rottweiler guard dog (to protect them I guess?). The dog mauled the youngest one to death.
And the beat goes on.
And so it does...
And today a 5 yr old shot a 3 yr old dead, how about some sort of test to become a gun owner and a parent
I just saw an explanation why the Republicans/conservatives/right-wingers and their leaders are antivaxxers and antimaskers - it's so many Americans will get sick and die now so they can blame it on Biden and his policies in order to convince voters not to vote for Democrats/liberals/left-wingers at the mid-terms. Sneaky bastards, eh?