A boy in Florida has died after accidentally shooting himself with a loaded gun while being at a friend's house for a sleepover with no adult supervision.
The 12-year-old child, whose identity remains confidential, had been dropped off at his friend's place in Lakeland - east of Tampa - on Friday by his mother.
Local authorities said that at one point during the day, two boys had found a loaded gun inside a car that had been in the home's garage.
As the 12-year-old grasped the firearm, he unintentionally fired a round and ended up fatally wounding himself, Lakeland Police said an official report.
A 12-year-old boy accidentally shot himself at a friend's home in Lakeland on Friday after being dropped off by his mother for a sleepover
The child found a loaded gun inside a car parked inside the home's garage. Pictured: The home's driveway
Police officers were called to the home at around 7p.m. The 12-year-old boy was still alive when police officers found him.
He was then rushed to Tampa General Hospital. where he eventually died from his wounds, according to WFLA.
The boy's mother later told Lakeland police that she thought that an adult would have been supervising her son when she initially dropped him off.
It was also said that neither of the surviving boy's parents were aware that their son had invited someone over to their home. Both were at work at the time of the accident.
Parents of the surviving boy told police that they had not been aware of any sleepover and had been at work at the time of the incident. They further told cops that they had not given their son permission to have anybody at their home
As of Sunday afternoon, no charges have been filed and an investigation remains ongoing.
In 2021, at least 259 accidental shootings by children took place in the U.S. and 104 of them resulted in death while 168 others involved injuries, according to NPR.
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