Florida toddler dead after accidental shooting with dad’s gun, police say

On Thursday, a three-year-old boy in Bartow, Florida, tragically died after accidentally shooting himself outside of a Burger King, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office. The incident occurred while the child was in the backseat of a car. Sheriff Gary Judd revealed that the father was in the drive-through attempting to process a credit card payment at a Burger King when the transaction failed.

The father, who had recently moved from Connecticut to Florida, was distracted as he tried to resolve the issue. He was carrying a Glock in his waistband and, as he bent over to examine his card, laid it down. Surveillance footage from the restaurant showed the father jumping out of the vehicle and frantically running around. A neighbor next door, seeing the commotion, called 911.

The child was rushed to Lakeland Regional Health, where he was pronounced dead at approximately 7:30 p.m. local time. No arrests have been made, and the Polk County Sheriff's Office will not be suggesting criminal charges. This incident is not the first tragic case involving a toddler and a firearm in Florida this year. In July, a four-year-old boy shot and killed his two-year-old cousin with an unsecured gun in a vehicle in Kissimmee.

Osceola County Sheriff Chris Blackmon stated that the four-year-old found the unsecured firearm in the car and discharged it, striking the two-year-old. Both children were pronounced deceased at the scene.