Woman Dies After 2-Year-Old Son Accidentally Shoots Her Inside Moving Car, Victim Identified
A 26-year-old woman driving down a Milwaukee highway was accidentally shot dead by her own 2-year-old son after the toddler accidentally got hold of a loaded gun and fired at the woman. The Inquisitr previously reported the incident in a separate news story earlier. However, there was little information pertaining to the incident at the time.
One day after the incident, officials have identified the 26-year-old victim as Patrice Price, a mother of three. According to the New York Daily News, Price was driving down Highway 175 when her 2-year-old son managed to access a gun that was left behind the vehicle. The toddler seems to have accidentally fired the gun, sending a bullet into the back of Price sitting in the front just inches away. The death of Patrice Price has been confirmed by her father, Andre Price.
According to officials from the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office, the vehicle belonged to the woman’s boyfriend, who worked as a security guard. They are investigating if the gun belonged to the boyfriend who had carelessly kept it on the backseat of the car. There were initial reports that there were two other children inside the vehicle when the accident happened. This has not yet been confirmed by the investigating agencies.
A statement issued by the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Department said, “Initial witness accounts indicate that a child in the back seat of the vehicle got ahold of a gun and discharged the firearm, sending a single bullet into the driver’s back. The MCSO investigation into the death is on-going.”
After Price was shot, the car hit a barrier and came to a halt. Emergency personnel responded to the scene and reached the spot within minutes. However, Price was pronounced dead at the scene.
Patrice’s father, Andre Price, remembers her as a hard-working mother of three. He said he was unable to see his daughter’s body and that he wanted to hold his daughter’s hand one last time.
“I have a knot in my chest. They won’t even let me see my daughter. I wanted to hold my daughter for one last time,” he said.
Mr. Andre also confirmed that Patrice was driving her boyfriend’s car before the incident happened on Tuesday morning.
Child accidentally shoots and kills mother on Milwaukee highway yesterday, now we take a look at proper gun storage and safety on #nbc26.
— Marisa DeCandido (@MarisaNBC26) April 27, 2016
The latest incident involving a toddler and a gun has once again raised questions about gun control laws in the U.S. The incident also comes just over two months after another incident of a similar nature was reported in Florida, where a 31-year-old mother was shot in the back by her 4-year-old son. However, the woman in that incident was lucky and was not fatally wounded. However, the woman identified as Jamie Gilt is now facing misdemeanor charges for allowing a minor access to a firearm. In fact, it was just last month that the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office filed an affidavit with local prosecutors asking that Gilt be charged with the second-degree misdemeanor.
If convicted, Gilt may be sentenced to spend up to 180 days in jail. That incident also created controversy owing to the fact that Gilt was a vociferous pro-gun activist who also regularly posted images of herself posing with her son holding several weapons on a Facebook page that was subsequently deleted.
As for the Milwaukee highway incident, it remains unclear if officials plan to press charges against the owner of the gun.
[Image via Facebook]
