Kentucky

Kentucky 2-year-old accidentally shoots himself in head, police say.

A 2-year-old boy is in stable condition after he accidentally shot himself in the head Saturday night in a home in Flatwoods, Kentucky State Police said.

The child located an unsecured handgun and was able to fire the weapon, police said. Adult family members were in the home at the time, trooper Bobby King said.

The shooting was in far northeast Greenup County. The child was taken to Cabell Huntington Hospital in Huntington, W.Vir., roughly 20 miles from Flatwoods, to be treated, police said.

KSP Post 14 received a request for assistance in the case, and detectives responded to investigate. No one had been charged in connection with the incident as of Monday morning, King said.

Previous Herald-Leader reporting found that children committed at least 36 accidental shootings from 2013 to 2017.

This story was originally published August 10, 2020 at 8:13 AM.

Jeremy Chisenhall
Lexington Herald-Leader
Jeremy Chisenhall covers criminal justice and breaking news for the Lexington Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com. He joined the paper in 2020, and is originally from Erlanger, Ky.
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Valarie Honeycutt Spears
Lexington Herald-Leader
Staff writer Valarie Honeycutt Spears covers K-12 education, social issues and other topics. She is a Lexington native with southeastern Kentucky roots.  Support my work with a digital subscription
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