18-Month Old Points Loaded Handgun At 4-Year Old

[matcom]

<snip>

An 18-month-old girl reportedly pointed a carelessly stored, loaded .22-caliber revolver at a 4-year-old girl Wednesday morning before she was disarmed by the girl's mother, police said.
The child's father, Tamone Henderson, 21, of Guilford Street, located at his place of work in Amherst a few hours after the incident in a Rother Avenue residence, was charged with criminal possession of a weapon and endangering the welfare of a child.

Laquita Ross, 27, of Broadway in Lancaster, her 7-year-old son and her daughter, Dinah, were visiting Ross' close friend Santana Ladd, 19, when Ladd's daughter, Symone Henderson, emerged from her bedroom with the small, silver-plated gun.

"We were sitting on the couch and my 4-year-old came out and Symone came out, too. My daughter said, "Mom, she got a gun. I took it away once, and she's trying to shoot me,' " Ross told The Buffalo News on Wednesday evening. "I took the gun away and put it in my purse."

At first, she said she wasn't sure if the gun was real. When she took it away, however, there was no mistaking its authenticity. The gun was hard steel and heavy, she told police.

Ross left the house, got into her car and immediately called police.

http://buffalonews.com/editorial/20050818/1006201.asp

[benburch]

1. Half a second away from tragedy.

I hope this guy serves some time.