LEHI, UT – A disturbing event unfolded in Lehi, Utah, when an 8-year-old girl accidentally shot herself in the head. The young girl was in her mother’s vehicle, which was parked outside a convenience store at around 7:40 PM on Monday.
The child was unattended in the car when she found a gun that had been left under the seat, according to Jeanteil Livingston from the Lehi City Police Department. The girl was rushed to the hospital but sadly succumbed to her injuries the following morning.
Witness Doug Shields was at the scene when the incident took place. He had been refueling his vehicle when he heard the gunshot, followed immediately by a woman screaming. Upon hearing the mother’s screams, he approached the vehicle and heard the mother revealing that the child had found the gun under the seat.
While the fatal shooting seems to have been unintentional and self-inflicted, Utah law does not carry any penalties for failing to secure an unattended firearm, leaving it accessible to unsupervised minors. Neither does the state mandate unattended firearms to be stored in certain ways or require a locking device to accompany firearm sales.
In the wake of this incident, no charges have been forthcoming against the mother, although investigations into the tragedy are ongoing.