GREENVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) — Greenville police say a 3-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed himself with a gun that he found Friday night.
Police said they responded at around 10 p.m. along with Greenville Fire/Rescue to the 200 block of Beech Street. They found the 3-year-old with a gunshot wound and rushed him to ECU Health Medical Center. Despite life-saving efforts, he was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Investigators said the child got the gun inside a home and then shot himself. The name of the child was being withheld to allow family to make proper notifications, officials said. Investigators also consulted with the Pitt County District Attorney’s Office and determined no charges would be filed.
This is at least the third such reported incident in Eastern North Carolina since January. In one other case, a child died.
A Pink Hill 3-year-old boy died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on January 14 inside a home in the 5500 block of Murphy Road. The child, later identified as Clarence Roland Byrd IV, was transported to UNC Lenoir Health Care in Kinston and died at around 11 a.m.
On Jan. 5, a toddler gained access to an unsecured and loaded gun inside a home on Rebecca Lane in Kinston. The toddler fired a shot that injured a teen sibling, causing serious injury. The teen has since recovered.
The Lenoir County Sheriff’s Office announced on Jan. 25 that two fathers — Farentino Roberts, 33, and Clarence Byrd III, 29 — were facing charges in the incidents.
