Police: Child finds OPD officer's handgun, accidentally fires it

ORLANDO, Fla. — For the fourth time in eight days a child has gotten his hands on a gun in central Florida. This time the gun belonged to an Orlando police officer.

Orlando police said the gun was a personal weapon belonging to Officer Thomas O'Day. They said the gun was hidden in a closet, until his girlfriend's 9-year-old son came to visit.

Police said the boy was looking for an Xbox at a home in southeast Orlando when he found the .380-caliber Diamondback handgun. Police said the boy accdentally fired one shot into a bedroom wall.

"It was well hidden in the closet. It couldn't be foreseeable by anyone," said Sgt. Jim Young, Orlando police spokesman.

No one was injured, but according to police it's not believed the gun was secured in a locked box or with a trigger lock. State law requires a gun to be secured if there is an expectation that a child would be in the house.

Police said it was the first time the child had been to the home, and that no children live in the home.
 
No charges are being filed and O'Day is not being disciplined, police said.

"We have to have probable cause that a criminal violation occurred and in this case there is no probable cause," said Young.
 
Darrell Simmons, the boy's grandfather, told WFTV that the child had never shot a gun before.

"He doesn't get in trouble. He's a good kid, just rambunctious, gets into everything. You just have to watch him," said Simmons.

This is the third time in less than a week Orlando police have investigated a child firing an unsecured gun.

In a Lake Nona neighborhood a brother accidentally killed his sibling. And in Pine Hills a 4-year-old shot himself in the head.

Neighbors say the veteran officer should have known better.

"Guns need to be kept under lock and key if there are kids in the house," said neighbor John Chiappetta. "Everybody should be held accountable for their actions."

Police said the Florida Department of Children and Families was notified of the incident.
   

WFTV