Tragic: Toddler accidently shoots mum in the head
A tragic young army mother was shot dead by her three-year-old son as she changed her 10-month-old daughter’s nappy.
The toddler is believed to have found a loaded semi-automatic handgun on a table and accidentally fired it at Christa Engles’ head as she tended to his baby sister.
No one else was was home at the time.
The 26-year-old U.S. Army Reserve specialist was found by the children’s grandmother when she returned home to the bloody scene in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Engles was taken to hospital in a critical condition, but later died.
Engles’ husband, a truck driver who was on the road, arrived home yesterday evening after hearing about the shooting and was only able to confirm his wife’s death after repeatedly calling the hospital.
Tulsa Police Homicide Sgt. Dave Walker confirmed that it appeared the mother had been shot as she changed the nappy.
“There was a holster on a table right (by) where she would have been changing the diaper,” he said.
KJRH-TV reports that as the youngster was taken to be interviewed by specialist officers he repeatedly said: “Mummy, shot.”
Detectives believe the toddler picked up the gun from a low-lying table near the sofa while his mum was distracted.
Brian Engles said yesterday that he was in the process of coordinating funeral arrangements, and while he said he wasn’t yet ready to be interviewed, he allowed Tulsa World to publish the contents of his social media posts.
Heartbroken, he wrote on Facebook: “I know you loved me, I worship the ground you walked on.
“I am the luckiest man alive, to have been able to love you. Since the day I met you, you have been the best part of me. I love you Precious Angel.”
Both the Engles children have been turned over to family members, but experts say their healing process has only just begun.
Child specialists interviewed the toddler about the incident Monday night, and Walker said the boy — the only direct witness — “confirmed what the evidence led investigators to assume.”
“Any child who is dealing with that type of trauma is going to have fears at times and anxiety,” Child Abuse Network Managing Director Rose Turner said.
“That can be expressed in depression or extreme anger. They don’t know how to deal with that feeling of loss.”
Regardless of how the boy obtained the weapon, police and family members believe they will always view the case as a “horrible, horrible accident.”
“Don’t forget to tell your loved ones they are loved,” Brian Engles wrote Tuesday. “You really never know when the last ‘I love you’ really is the last.”
Source: mirror.co.uk