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A Florida toddler grabbed his father’s gun and accidentally shot himself fatally in the face while in a Burger King drive-thru Thursday — as his distracted dad tried to pay for dinner, police said.
The dad, who was carrying a pistol in his waistband, put it down in the car after his credit card was declined at the Bartow drive-thru window causing him to get distracted — and allowing his 3-year-old who was playing in the backseat to pick up the gun and mistakenly pull the trigger, according to FOX 13 Tampa Bay.
“We also know, at least from the initial info, that we can see where there is a bullet hole directly through the roof, and the child shot in the face,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd told reporters at a press conference.
The little boy was about to turn 4 on Monday.
The family had recently moved to the Sunshine State from Connecticut just four months earlier, prompting the credit card company to flag the transaction.
While the dad was dealing with the credit card company on his phone, he took his Glock handgun from his waistband and put it down on the seat — and grew preoccuppied while searching for another way to pay, deputies said.
Moments later, the boy grabbed the gun and accidentally discharged it, police said.
“So, subjectively … we think dad took the gun out, laid it down … and while he’s trying to figure out how to pay for dinner on the credit card, the child obviously sees the gun, picks it up, is playing with it, and shoots himself in the face,” Judd said.
A bystander called 911 and first responders rushed the child to a local hospital, but he was pronounced dead at 7:30 p.m.
The father holds a valid concealed carry permit — although that is not required in Florida, according to the sheriff.
If a kid gets ahold of a gun and hurts someone, the parent can be charged with a third-degree felony under state culpable negligence laws, the sheriff said.
While prosecutors with the Florida State Attorney’s Office will ultimately decide whether to file charges against the dad, Judd indicated there is little appetite to press the matter.
He told reporters that “quite frankly, if the investigation concludes, according to what we see now, certainly we would not have any energy at all for suggestive criminal charges.”
Bartow Deputy Chief Kyle Dowdy said officers were “having a tough time with this one.”
“This is an absolute tragedy,” he said. “There is going to be a family without a son tonight, without a nephew, without a cousin.
“There’s going to be a mom and dad that are going to try and pick up the shambles of this horrific event, and in the end, the community itself is hurting.”