9-month-old Baby Fatally Shot By 5-year-old Brother In Northwest Missouri

A 5-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed his 9-month-old brother in Northwest Missouri.

The Nodaway County Sheriff’s Office was called to the home about 9 a.m. – and according to sheriff Darren White, the infant died just before noon at the Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City.

White said the infant’s mother was pretty frantic when she called 911.

“She said that she needed an ambulance at her home, that her 5-year-old son had shot her 9-month-old son in the head with a paintball gun,” the sheriff stated.

KCTV reports that emergency crews scrambled to the home. However, when they arrived on the scene, it was determined that the child had been shot in the head with a.22 caliber magnum revolver.

The child was flown from the scene to Children’s Mercy Hospital where he later died.

White said the younger child was in a playpen, and the older one found the loaded gun, which had been kept on a shelf that was built into the headboard of the master bed.

For neighbors, especially those with small children, this is a wake-up call.

“You know, just some gun safety could have come into play, and would have maybe, you know prevented the situation, but it’s just really sad, altogether,” neighbor Jessica Hutchison said.

The sheriff’s office says the gun actually belonged to another family member, not the mother.

According to Fox 4, next door neighbor and friend of the family, Kathy Armentrout, stated that the woman was home alone with her four boys at the time of the shooting.

“They’re a very good family and this was a tragedy. It’s a sad deal. I just hope everybody prays for them,” she said.

Armentrout says the four little boys, who are brothers, live in the house, including the baby who was killed. She grabbed the three children who she says are ages five, three and one-and-a-half and brought them to her house.

“They’re not very old so they have no clue what was happening, you know,” said Arementrout.

Sheriff White says he has contacted the prosecutor to give him a heads up about this case. The prosecutor will assemble a child fatality review board, made up of law enforcement, children’s services and hospital personnel to help him determine of charges will be filed against the parents in this case.

In the meantime, the three children are in the custody of relatives.