A three-year-old boy accidentally shot himself in the foot with his police officer mother’s gun.
The boy opened fire on himself as his mother, a Miami-Dade County Schools cop, was preparing food at their home in Florida, according to the Homestead Police Department.
He was airlifted from the home on Southeast 10th Street in Homestead just before 2pm on Sunday to a hospital in Kendall. The boy was listed in stable condition.
Detectives located a gun on a kitchen counter with a large amount of blood close by, stated an arrest report obtained by NBC6.
The boy’s mother, identified as Stephanie Jerez, has been charged with child neglect with great bodily harm.
Her weapon was personally owned and not a firearm she used for work, according to police.
Jerez’s lawyer, Robert Buschel, said that her ‘son is recovering well’.
‘The judicial system and police department will understand that this is a tragedy that does not require additional punishment,’ he stated.
On Momday, Miami-Dade County Public Schools said they were ‘aware of a non-school related incident’ involving an officer over the weekend.
‘The officer has been arrested by the Homestead Police Department,’ stated the school district. ‘The Miami-Dade Schools Police Department has relieved the officer of duty pending the outcome of the investigation.’
Jerez appeared in court on Monday and her bond was set at $5,000. She has been ordered not to buy, use, possess or carry firearms or ammunition unless it is related to work.
The Homestead Police Department stated ‘takes cases involving child endangerment very seriously, and we are committed to ensuring the safety and well being of all children’.
In addition, the department urged all gun owners to ‘securely store firearms and to educate themselves and their families about gun safety’.
The boy shot himself just weeks after a three-year-old girl fatally shot herself in the eye after getting ahold of her father’s unsecured gun in their home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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