A Texas toddler died after shooting himself with a 9 mm handgun he found in his home, prompting Child Protective Services to take custody of two other children living there.
According to The Huffington Post, Trenton Mathis, a 2-year-old Cherokee County boy in east Texas, was pronounced dead at a Tyler hospital after he shot himself in the face, KLTV reports.
Mathis' great grandmother, Carolyn, told the station that Trenton went looking for gum through a bedroom door that was not closed all the way. He got onto her bed, and found the handgun on a nightstand.
The home belongs to the Carolyn Mathis and her husband, who were present for the accidental shooting. The other two children were removed from the home by authorities after the incident, the Tyler Morning Telegraph reports. It wasn't immediately clear whether charges would be filed.
Trenton Mathis and three other children were placed in the home -- which was deemed unsafe by CPS -- late last year after abuse and neglect in their parents' home.
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At a custody hearing, a judge ruled against a CPS recommendation that the children be relocated to somewhere other than the great grandparents' home.
It's not the only case this week of a child carrying a weapon that fired accidentally.
A loaded handgun in a third-grade student's backpack discharged at a Minneapolis school on Tuesday. Nobody was injured KMSP-TV reports.
That child was sent to a hospital-run home for children while authorities investigate how the Bethune Community School student got the gun.
