A tragic accident occurred yesterday early morning in Paulding County when a 3-year-old child fatally shot 19-year-old Kabrel Patterson. According to FOX 5 Atlanta, deputies responded to a home on Eagles Nest Drive shortly after 7 a.m. and found Patterson deceased from a gunshot wound to the back of the head. He had brought the firearm into the house, which the toddler later found and accidentally discharged.
The home, which housed nine to twelve occupants at the time, was mostly asleep during the incident. Communication officer Jordan Youdis stated to Atlanta News First: “The facts are the facts, from the time that we got there and they haven’t changed. It’s just unfortunate.” A neighbor noted the significant police and EMS presence that morning and described offering comfort to the adult family members present.
Authorities are treating the event as an accidental shooting, and no charges have been filed. Youdis said, "He has no recollection of what he did, or the consequences that are life-altering because of it. It’s one of the more unfortunate things we have to deal in our line of work is accidents like this," as reported by Atlanta News First.
The Paulding County Sheriff’s Office stressed the importance of secure firearm storage. ““Have the proper place to store your firearm, and have a lock on. And, of course, it goes without saying, keep your guns away from children. Even if think, ‘I’ve talked to my child about the importance of gun safety, they are in a safe, all these types of things.’ These things happen time and time again across the country that are so easily preventable,” Youdis told Atlanta News First.
