VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – Multiple guns were inside a DeLand home where a 3-year-old boy shot and killed himself, according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.
Law enforcement said an emergency call was placed Wednesday from inside the home on Nectarine Road.
Sheriff Mike Chitwood said the boy found the gun in his parents’ nightstand in their bedroom.
“I would like them to listen to that 911 call. I would like them to hear the 16-year-old say, ‘My brother shot himself and he’s not breathing,’ and I think if you heard that, you would run out right now and buy a gun safe,” Chitwood said.
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Chris Louissant teaches gun safety in Volusia County. He said that if specific safety steps are followed, it becomes unlikely that a similar tragedy could occur.
“We help the kids address the curiosity in a safe manner. They come out here, learn the things to do and not to do, and then they end up safely operating a firearm,” Louissant said.
Louissant showed News 6 the safety steps to take to secure a firearm.
Florida law requires a gun to “be stored in a locked box container or secured with a trigger lock of the owner reasonably knows that a child under the age of 16 can gain access. A violation of this law is a misdemeanor.”
Chitwood said the shooting is under investigation and any findings will be submitted to the State Attorney’s Office, though any possible charges are “the least of my concern.”
As of now, no charges have been filed in the case.
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