2-year-old Wilkes County boy shoots himself with parents’ gun

THURMOND, N.C. (AP) – Authorities are investigating after a 2-year-old Wilkes County boy shot himself with a gun he found in his parents’ vehicle.

Sheriff’s investigators tell local media outlets the child found a .380 semi-automatic handgun in the driver’s side door pocket of his parents’ truck and shot himself on Sunday afternoon.

The boy was struck in the chest. He was taken to Brenner Children’s Hospital in Winston-Salem and his current condition is unknown.

The boy’s mother told WGHP-TV the gun had been in the truck because the child’s father had to put down an animal on their farm. She told the station that her son was alert, talking and laughing.

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2/22/2017 6:22:33 AM (GMT -5:00)