Over 400 children shot a firearm in the US in 2023 causing unintentional injury. Now, another tragic preventable death has occurred as a 12-year-old discharged a loaded gun, killing herself.
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In Chicago, Illinois, a mother was bathing her 1-year-old daughter. In the other room, 12-year-old Priscilla McCullough had found the gun her mom says is usually locked away. However, on this occasion, it wasn't, and it was loaded.
The young girl started playing with the gun, asking her sibling if it was real. Her mother, in the other room, heard the gun go off as she continued to bathe her baby. Priscilla's sister rushed into the room to find her sister with a gun and a severe abdominal wound.
The mother rushed into the room seeing her 12-year-old daughter suffering from a fatal gunshot to the abdomen. She ordered her other daughter to apply pressure to the wound while she called 911.
12-Year-Old Dies Of Gunshot Wound
The 12-year-old was rushed to Comer Children's Hospital to be treated for the gun wound. Sadly, it was already too late for the girl, and she passed away only a few hours later. The mother, due to her irresponsible treatment of a lethal weapon, has now lost her daughter.
The initial autopsy came back inconclusive. However, the case seems quite simple. The gun was left loaded and within reach of children. And, kids being kids, the young girl picked it up and started playing with it. Why it was out in the first place is anyone's guess.
There will be no charges against the woman if the investigation comes back confirming the 12-year-old killed herself. In Utah, there is no law surrounding the irresponsible storage of a firearm. The mother was completely in her right to leave an unsecured and loaded weapon lying around with the kids.
These completely preventable deaths are not accidents, they are the fault of parents leaving guns around children. Kids are naturally inquisitive, and with such high exposure to guns in the US, often don't understand their severity.
This 12-year-old is now just another statistic resulting from the obscene gun laws that exist in the US.
