Child finds a gun and shoots 3-year-old boy and 5-year-old girl, NC sheriff says

A 3-year-old boy and a 5-year-old girl were shot after a group of children discovered a loaded gun at grandma’s house and one started pulling the trigger, according to investigators in North Carolina.

It happened around 6 p.m. Saturday at a home near Rockingham, and the girl’s injuries are life-threatening, the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office said in a July 4 news release.

“The children were in the care of their grandmother and two adult males at the time of the incident. While the adults were in the process of cooking a meal, four children were in the living room of the home and found a loaded gun, with one of the children discharging the gun, striking the victims,” the sheriff’s office said.

“The five-year-old female sustained life-threatening injuries and was flown to a trauma center after the staff at FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital Richmond Emergency Department got her stabilized for the trip. The three-year-old male received a non-life-threatening isolating injury.”

An investigation resulted in 22-year-old Ezekiel Nicre Tillman of Rockingham being charged with two felony counts of child abuse/willful act or omission showing reckless disregard, and one misdemeanor count of unlawful storage of a firearm to protect a minor, the sheriff’s office said.

Rockingham is about a 70-mile drive southeast from uptown Charlotte.