OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — A 3-year-old Osceola County boy is recovering at Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando after he was shot in the chest. The toddler got his hands on a gun inside a home on Amber Way in Poinciana on Thursday afternoon and pulled the trigger. He was airlifted to the hospital in serious condition.
Today, during a news conference, Osceola County Sheriff Chris Blackmon announced the boy is expected to survive.
Blackmon said, “The child unintentionally shot himself once in the chest. By the mere grace of God, he’s not severely injured.”
He said the bullet went through the child’s chest and out his back, but it didn’t do much internal damage.
Next door neighbor Sebastian Ruiz said he didn’t even hear the shot. “We just saw, like, a bunch of cops over here. At the moment, we didn’t know what happened,” he said.
He later learned the boy had been wounded.
There are still questions about why the gun was left unsecured and how it ended up in the boy’s hands. Under state law, guns should be stored in a safe place, and the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office encourages people to use gun locks. Leaving a gun for a child to access is a misdemeanor, and charges could be upgraded to a felony depending on circumstances and how badly the child is hurt if the gun is fired.
WFTV Reporter Jeff Deal asked, “Who does own the gun, and do you expect them to be charged in the case at this point?”
The sheriff answered, “We’re looking into it. There are potentially investigations continuing. We’re working with the family. There may be some charges coming out of this.”
But Sheriff Blackmon said the family is cooperating, and neighbors told Channel 9 they are hoping to see the boy home soon.
Sebastian Ruiz said, “Hopefully, he recovers soon, and he comes back home safe.”
Neighbors told us a little girl also lived in the home, and the sheriff’s office confirmed that other kids and adults were there at the time. So far, investigators have not said who owns the gun.
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