ALOHA, Ore. — A 3-year-old boy has died after he accidentally shot himself in the head with a handgun at a home in Aloha Friday night, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office said.
Family members of 3-year-old James Kenneth Lindquester called 911 to report James had gotten a handgun out of a bedroom end table drawer and shot himself in the head about 10 minutes before 10 p.m., according to the Washington County Sheriff's office.
James was taken to an area hospital where he was pronounced deceased just before midnight.
On Saturday, his family did not want to speak on camera, instead they told KATU they were keeping this matter private.
Detectives from the Violent Crimes Unit and the Special Investigations Unit responded to the scene and the investigation is ongoing. They say it was a difficult scene to respond to.
"I think if you ask any first responder, the death of a child is the absolute worst call that we go to," explained Washington County Deputy, Shannon Wilde. "It’s tough, a lot of us are parents ourselves. I know some of the responders on scene last night have children, some have children the same age as this little boy and it’s tough. We see a lot of horrible things but seeing a child in that situation is the worst."
They encourage gun owners to keep firearms locked up and stored away from ammunition to prevent this from happening again. Penny Okamoto with Cease Fire Oregon echoes that advice.
"If people choose to have a firearm in the home, it’s got to be kept locked up and unloaded," shared Okamoto. "The burden is really on the adult gun owner to make sure that the firearm is secure at all time."
Okamoto says parents should also talk to their young children about the danger of firearms.
"We always need to have conversations with our children about danger and one thing that we encourage with cease fire Oregon education association is tell the children when they see a gun don’t touch, leave the area tell and adult," Okamoto said.
Okamoto says her organization has hundreds of free gun locks that can be given out. Unfortunately, they are not able to ship them to people directly, but can bring boxes to an organization or business to be given out for free. If you would like to get free gun locks for your organization or business, contact Cease Fire Oregon at 503-451-3630 or on their website.
At this time, no charges have been filed in relation to James' death. Sheriff deputies say that decision will be up to the District Attorney. An autopsy will be conducted at the Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office.
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"The burden is really on the adult gun owner to make sure that the firearm is secure at all time." It always is, in cases like these.
And now they have to live with this mistake for the rest of their lives.
