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3-year-old injured in accidental shooting in Cape Coral

Posted at 11:27 PM, Dec 02, 2019
and last updated 2019-12-03 18:30:59-05

Cape Coral Police confirm that a child was injured in an accidental shooting in Cape Coral Monday night.

It happened at a home on NE 7th Avenue just off 15th Terrace.

A 3-year-old child was injured in the incident, and was trauma alerted to the hospital before being taken to All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg.

The child is now in a "guarded" condition.

Tera Rose lives across the street from where the child was shot said she walked outside when her dog heard a gunshot.

“The dog heard it last night, and we came out, and we just seen the cops out,” she said.

Cape Coral Police Department went to the house around 10:30 Monday night after they got a call that a three-year-old was accidentally shot once, inside this home.

Neighbors said the three-year-old isn’t an only child. They’ve seen older kids walking to and from a nearby bus stop, too.

Neighbor Julio Cruz said he’s in disbelief, but he’s keeping the family in his prayers.

“It’s sad. Pretty much for the whole neighborhood. Hopefully the kid gets through it, and the family is well,” he said.

At this point, police said it’s unclear who had the gun when the child was shot. They have not shared if any other children were in the home when it happened.

Sergeant Patrick O’Grady with CCPD shared a reminder for parents to protect their kids from guns.

“If there is a gun in the house, you want to keep it locked up, away from the children, unloaded,” he said.

Cruz said it’s hard now, but hopes this can be a teachable moment.

“Unfortunately what happened to this baby is an accident, but hopefully we learn from it,” he said.

Investigators said it could take them days or weeks to find out what led to the shooting.

The shooting remains under investigation. We'll update as we learn more.


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CAPE CORAL, Fla. -- Cape Coral Police are responding to a shooting incident in the area of Andalusia Boulevard and Diplomat Parkway East.

Police are reporting no danger to the public.

Fox 4 is working on getting more information.

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