8-year-old Florida boy accidentally shoots and kills baby, injures toddler

PENSACOLA — An 8-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed a 1-year-old girl and injured a 2-year-old girl at a Florida motel on Sunday, authorities said.

The boy’s father left the gun holstered in his Pensacola motel room closet. After he left the room, his son found it and fired a round that passed through and killed the baby and struck the toddler, said Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons during a news conference Monday. The children who were shot belonged to the girlfriend of the father.

The toddler is expected to recover, Simmons said.

The boy’s father returned to the room, took the gun and what investigators believe were drugs and left the room again, Simmons said. He is charged with being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, two counts of culpable negligence by storing a firearm within easy reach of a minor resulting in injuries, tampering with evidence and failure to store a firearm in a required manner.

He was arrested and later released on $41,000 bond.