A Pembroke Pines mother accidentally shot her son in the leg after mistaking him for an intruder, according to the Pembroke Pines Police Department.
Police responded to a report of a shooting inside a home near Northwest 134 Avenue and Northwest 9th Street around 1:43 a.m. on Sunday, according to a statement. When the cops arrived, they discovered the mother and son inside.
“[She] had fallen asleep on her living room couch while her son had fallen asleep upstairs in his room earlier in the evening,” the Pembroke Pines Police Department said in a statement. According to the department, the two are the only ones who live at their residence.
The police reported that the mother, who was sleeping on the couch in her living room, was startled out of her slumber by a sound coming from her kitchen. Afraid someone was trespassing, she “removed a firearm that she had concealed in her purse next to her in the living room.”
While her son was in the kitchen, believing his mother was sleeping upstairs, the mother went to investigate the source of the noise, and the two startled each other.
“The mother accidentally fired her gun twice, striking the floor once and inadvertently striking her son in his leg,” police said.
The boy was taken to a nearby hospital after the incident to receive treatment for non-life-threatening wounds.
Although police are investigating the incident, they have stated that there “does not appear to be any criminal intent” in the case.
A report by the EFSGV states that unintentional gun deaths are more likely to occur in the U.S. than in other high-income countries. It says Americans are four times more likely to die from an unintentional gun injury than those in comparable countries. It further cites a 2017 study, which says that over half (50.2%) of all nonfatal gun injuries are assaults and over one-third (36.7%) are unintentional injuries.
