A 2-year-old boy is recovering in the hospital after he was shot in the chest Thursday night inside a North Nashville apartment, a shooting that witnesses say happened after the toddler found a handgun left out in the living room.
Metro Nashville Police say the child was taken to the hospital and is listed in stable condition. Youth Services detectives are leading the investigation after witnesses told officers the boy picked up an unsecured pistol, according to FOX17 Nashville. The outlet reported that the man believed to own the gun ran from the apartment with the weapon after the shooting. As of publication, it was not clear whether anyone had been arrested.
Investigation at Cumberland View
The shooting happened at the Cumberland View public housing complex in North Nashville, a development run by the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency (MDHA).
The complex, which sits along 25th Avenue North, has been connected to other gun violence in recent years. That includes a deadly 2024 shooting that investigators later publicized in a Metro Nashville Police news release.
What the law says
State law does not look kindly on adults who let kids near guns. In Tennessee, it is an offense for a person to intentionally, knowingly or recklessly provide a handgun to a juvenile, and parents or guardians who allow juvenile access in certain situations can face misdemeanor or felony charges. Those provisions are laid out in Tennessee Code §39‑17‑1320.
Any decision on criminal charges in this case would come after prosecutors review that statute alongside what detectives uncover about how the pistol ended up within reach of a 2-year-old.
Why safe storage matters
Public health experts and pediatricians have been repeating the same basic advice for years for a reason. They say that locking up firearms, keeping them unloaded and storing ammunition separately can dramatically cut the odds of accidental shootings in homes with children. Efforts that combine free or low cost gun locks with counseling on safe storage have shown promise in reducing risk, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Data from the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions and federal CDC reporting show firearm injuries among children and teens have climbed in recent years, which is why safe storage campaigns keep surfacing as a central piece of many prevention strategies (Johns Hopkins).
Anyone with information about Thursday night's shooting is asked to contact Metro Nashville Police at 615-862-8600 or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers. The department posts tip line details and media releases on its website (Metro Nashville Police).
