DAYTON — A two-year-old boy is in critical condition after Dayton police said he accidentally shot himself with a gun he found in a home.
Investigators want caretakers or anyone with children and teens visiting their home to learn more about guns locks and safes.
News Center 7′s Mike Campbell spoke with a gun store owner and police investigators about where this case stands.
The child was rushed to Dayton Children’s Hospital for treatment of a gunshot wound on Wednesday after first being rushed from the home where the gunfire took place to a fire station on West Third Street.
Even other drivers on the road were asked to call for help.
Dayton police would later learn the child had been critically injured at a home on Goodlow Street.
A relative filed in more information on a 911 call.
“My nephew accidentally shot himself,” the relative told dispatchers. “The gun was on the floor.”
The first 911 caller reported the baby appeared to have injuries to his head, but police have not confirmed this, saying only that the child is in critical condition.
The department’s homicide squad is handling the investigation and they spent hours at the home on Goodlow gathering information and potential evidence.
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They have not made any arrests in the case.
“The bottom line is to secure it from individuals that are not supposed to have access to it,” said John Zetak, who owns Oakley arms in Fairborn.
He understands people wanting firearms for self-defense but says education and prevention is needed to make sure those guns are safe.
“Every firearm you purchase from an FFL should come with a lock,” Zetak said.
Zetak said lots of gun owners are afraid locks will keep them from accessing their gun as quickly as they’d like.
That’s where new and improved gun safes can help.
“If you want to go with something quicker, you go to a keypad,” Zetak said. “They make one with an RFID bracelet, you run it across and it presents the firearm to you.”
Zetak believes prevention like this is a priority. He also emphasizes that gun owners should talk with children and teens about the dangers of guns just like they would talk about the dangers of cars or a hot stove.
“Educate them on the ramifications, what it can do, if you use it wrong,” Zetak said.
The two-year-old boy is still in critical condition at the hospital, according to police.
He is now in an unfortunate group, one of 345 children involved in unintentional shooting every year, according to Everytown for gun safety, a non-profit group that advocates for gun control.
We will continue updating this story as we learn more on the boy’s condition.
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