It's a heartbreaking ordeal for Alexis Wiederholt from Elmo, Missouri when she found out that her five-year-old son shot his younger nine-month-old brother in the head, Inquisitr reported.
Wiederholt, 26, said she put her younger son down for a nap that day when she heard a sound from the other room. The next thing she knew, her elder son, who had been playing in the same room, apologized to her, saying he shot his brother, Corbin.
"I walked in and there was my baby, lying there, bleeding," she said. "I had just hugged him in my arms five minutes before that."
Corbin was rushed to the Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, but later died, according to News.
During the shooting, which occurred Monday at 9 a.m., Wiederholt first thought that her baby was shot with a paintball gun and said so to the emergency dispatcher.
It was later discovered that it was actually the .22 calibre Magnum revolver owned by the boys' grandfather, William Porter. The young mother didn't even know her father kept the gun inside his house.
"I didn't know it was there until I turned around and saw it lying on the bed. I don't know why someone would have a loaded gun in the house while kids were around," she said.
Porter said he told his grandsons not to go into his room, according to Inquisitr. He stated, "I told the boys they weren't supposed to be in my bedroom where I keep the gun cabinet and they knew it. But like I said, boys will be boys."
Officials said that the tragedy, was due to the five-year-old somehow getting into his grandfather's bedroom, finding the gun and playing with it -- shooting his baby brother in the process.
"At this point, foul play is not suspected, and it appears at this time that the shooting was accidental," said Nodaway County Sheriff Darren White, according to CNN.
He also explained that guns are actually rampant in their community, saying, "We are big supporters of firearms around here. We have a lot of people that own weapons. They hunt. They target shoot.
"Most people are very safe with them, and this is one of those cases where everything went together in the wrong way," he added. "We got some guys that work here that have little kids of their own. This kind of this home with them, too. They take it personally."
As of now, the authorities are still determining whether or not to file charges against any adults involved in the incident.
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