A three-year-old boy died on Thursday evening in Bartow, Florida, after, according to preliminary findings described by Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, he got hold of his father's handgun inside the family's vehicle at a Burger King drive-through and the firearm discharged. Early reports described the child as four years old; the sheriff said the boy was three and approaching his fourth birthday. The child's name has not been released.

Source: Lakeland Gazette, reporting Sheriff Judd's briefing

The shooting happened at the Burger King at 109 E. Van Fleet Drive. Emergency crews responded at about 6:31 p.m., the Polk County Sheriff's Office said, as reported by WFTS Tampa Bay and WFLA. Bystanders called 911 and helped the father and the injured child at the scene.

Source: WFTS Tampa Bay via Spot On Florida

Sheriff Judd told a news conference on Thursday evening that the father was having difficulty paying for the family's dinner and, while searching for another payment card, removed a handgun from his waistband and set it down inside the vehicle. The boy was unrestrained in the back seat. Moments later, the father heard a loud pop and got out of the vehicle. Investigators observed a bullet hole through the vehicle's roof, the sheriff's account said.

The child was taken to Lakeland Regional Health, where he was pronounced dead at about 7:30 p.m., according to the sheriff's briefing.

Bartow Police Department detectives are leading the investigation with assistance from the Polk County Sheriff's Office. Their findings will be submitted to State Attorney Brian Haas's office for review, including whether the circumstances support a charge of culpable negligence. No charging decision has been announced, and the father's account remains part of an open investigation.

What is solid

  • A three-year-old boy died after a handgun discharged inside a vehicle at a Burger King drive-through in Bartow on Thursday evening, Sheriff Grady Judd said.
  • Emergency crews responded at about 6:31 p.m.; the child was pronounced dead at Lakeland Regional Health at about 7:30 p.m.

What is only claimed

  • The sequence described by the father — that he set the handgun down while searching for a payment card and did not realise the child had picked it up — is his account to investigators and has not been tested in court.
  • Whether any criminal charge, including culpable negligence, will follow is undecided; the file goes to the State Attorney for review.