A 4-year-old boy shoots himself in front of his sister after being left in the car with his mother’s unsecured gun while she was shopping at a grocery store in Georgia
- Decalb County Police say Miel Hernandez found a gun in his mother’s car before “accidentally shooting” himself in the parking lot of a Publix store on Sunday night
- Miel’s 13-year-old cousin and eight-month-old sister were in the vehicle with him during the shooting.
- The teenager, who was in the passenger seat, ran to the grocery store for help after the gun exploded, but it was too late
- The boy was rushed to a local hospital but is believed to have died from his wounds on the spot.
- No charges or arrests have been filed as of Tuesday
A four-year-old boy was fatally shot after his mother left him in her car with a gun while she was shopping in Georgia grocery store.
Decalb County police said Miel Hernandez found his mother’s unsafe gun and “accidentally shot himself” in the parking lot of a Publix store around 5 p.m. Sunday.
Miel’s 13-year-old cousin and eight-month-old sister were in the vehicle with him during the shooting, authorities said.
The teenager, who was in the passenger seat, ran to the grocery store for help after the gun exploded, but it was too late.
“When he turned around, he saw my nephew … she went for help and that’s it,” said Maria Hernandez, one of Miel’s aunts. WXIA TV. “Two passers-by called 911 and by then he was gone.”
The boy was rushed to a local hospital, but is believed to have died from his injuries on the spot.
Miel Hernandez (pictured), four, was in her mother’s car with two other minors when she found a loaded gun and accidentally shot herself Sunday night.
Miel’s father, Jose Hernandez (left) with his eight-month-old daughter (center) and Miel (right), in a shared photo shared on Facebook
DeCalb County Police say the mother of four-year-old Miel Hernandez parked her car in front of Publix in a mall (pictured) and left it, a baby and a 13-year-old relative in her car
No charges or arrests have been filed since Tuesday, according to police.
“Our hearts and minds are focused on the Hernandez family,” said DeCalb County Police Chief Mirta Ramos. “We call on gun owners to always keep their weapons safe and secure.”
The three children were told to stay in the car while Miel’s mother went shopping for a birthday cake, according to Miel’s other aunt, Guadalupe Woods.
“This moment will be remembered forever as my father’s birthday with the death of our only boy we have besides my brother in our family,” Woods said.
The gun was unsafely stored in his mother’s car, police said Fox 5 Atlanta. It is not clear exactly where the weapon was.
No one was injured in the incident, which is still under investigation.
Miel’s grandmother, April Griffin, told local media that she did not know how the boy got the gun because her daughter did not own a gun.
“He’s innocent and he’s so clean,” Griffin told Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Even though he is not here, we know he went to heaven. We know it.
Miel is the sixth child to die in an Atlanta shooting this year
A GoFundMe was created to help pay for Miel’s funeral. More than $ 3,000 had been raised by Tuesday.
“Keep us in prayer,” reads the website’s description. “We ask for love and support to finance a tragic moment for our family… Thank you for your love and support.”
Miel is the sixth child to be shot in Greater Atlanta this year, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Earlier in the day, a 16-year-old suspect was charged with the death of nine-year-old Kemoni Mack, who was shot dead in a residential complex in southeast Atlanta, police said.
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