US: 33-Week Pregnant Woman Dies After Being Accidentally Shot By Her 2-Year-Old Son

Laura Ilg told the police that she was doing laundry in the bedroom, which was usually locked. Her son had followed her in without her realising and started playing with the gun.

Laura Ilg was accidentally shot by her 2-year-old son, who was playing with a gun.

Source : Representational Image/Getty

A pregnant woman and her unborn child in Ohio died after she was accidentally shot in the back by her 2-year-old son, who found the loaded gun near the nightstand, according to cops. Police chief David Smith said 31-year-old Laura Ilg had called 911 on the afternoon of June 16, as per AFP. She told the police that she was 33 weeks pregnant and that her 2-year-old had shot her accidentally with a firearm, adding that she went into shock and couldn’t breathe. 

When the police arrived at the scene in Norwalk, the victim was still conscious on the bedroom floor, with a gun on the nightstand. She was rushed to Fisher-Titus Medical Center for an emergency caesarean section, but the foetus could not be saved, reported AFP. Ilg died a few hours later, he further said.

According to an Associated Press report, the house was full of safety features. However, the baby gates, which are usually closed, were left open. Ilg, while she was conscious, told the police that she was doing the laundry in the bedroom and didn't realise her son had followed her. The child somehow got the gun and started playing with it, But it got discharged all of a sudden by accident.

Besides the Sig Sauer Mirco 9mm, the police found two other loaded firearms.

The victim's husband, who was not at home at the time of the incident, said the firearms belonged to him. According to AFP, Smith urged families to keep their guns locked up and never leave them loaded and unattended. The police has not arrested anyone in the case.

“Trigger locks, gun safes... there are a million varieties, and they aren’t that expensive. At the very least, leave them unloaded,” he said.

Accidental shooting has becoming more common in the United States, a country of around 330 million people and some 400 million guns, as per AFP. In a recent case, was in March, when a three-year-old girl accidentally killed her four-year-old sister with a gun near Houston, Texas, even though five adult including the parents were present with them.