A 2-year-old boy in Norwalk, Ohio, shot his pregnant mother in the back, killing her and the unborn child, police say.
Police received a call just after 1 p.m. on June 16 from the 31-year-old mother, who said she was “shot in the back by her 2-year-old son,” according to a news release from the Norwalk Police Department.
She also informed the dispatcher she was eight months pregnant, the release said. Moments later, her husband called 911 and stated “he received a phone call from his wife ‘screaming something about my son and needing to call 911.’”
Officers arrived at the house and forced entry through a locked front door, according to the release.
Both the mother and her son “were found in the upstairs master bedroom, along with” a pistol, the release said.
The son was removed from the room at the request of his mother, and officers rendered aid.
The mother was “fully conscious” and gave officers a “complete account of the events that occurred,” according to authorities. Her husband, who is 28, later also arrived at the home.
The mother was transported to a medical center where an emergency C-section was performed. The unborn son was later pronounced dead, followed by the mother.
The weapon, along with a spent shell casing, was seized from the home, police said, adding that the pistol’s magazine was loaded with an additional 12 rounds.
The Norwalk Police Department’s detective bureau executed a search warrant and found a number of child safety features in the home, including safety gates at almost every doorway and child locks on all drawers, the release said.
During their search, detectives seized an additional 12-round magazine for the pistol that the 2-year-old had gotten hold of in a nightstand in the master bedroom. They also discovered a Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun with six rounds in the master bedroom closet and an airsoft rifle in the computer room closet.
The investigation is ongoing, police said. No charges have been filed at this time, according to the release, and the case will be forwarded to Huron County Prosecutor’s Office.