A 4-year-old boy was fatally shot at a home on Cindy Lane in Gastonia on Tuesday afternoon, according to the Gaston County Police Department.
Police received a call at 4:22 p.m Tuesday about a shooting. They arrived to find a child suffering from a gunshot wound. First responders attempted life-saving measures, but the boy died.
GCPD detectives concluded that the child’s mother, father and another relative in the home failed to safely secure a gun, which the boy and his siblings found. Someone fired the weapon and it struck the 4-year-old, police said.
The Gaston County District Attorney's Office decided to charge all three adults — Savannah Brehm and Hector Mendoza, both 22, and Keith Strughill, 21— with involuntary manslaughter, felony child abuse and a misdemeanor of storing a firearm in a manner accessible to a minor.
All three were in Gaston County jail pending a first appearance hearing.
GCPD said the investigation is ongoing and are asking anyone with information to call 704-861-8000.