A 3-year-old boy named Roman accidentally shot himself inside a home on McCall Town Road in Caldwell County, and investigators say the gun he found was a loaded Glock 9 pistol left sitting out on a bedroom desk. Roman had celebrated his third birthday just a week before the shooting.
Caldwell County deputies are investigating the incident, according to WSOC-TV. Investigators reported that the child obtained the loaded firearm after it was left exposed on a bedroom desk, and the station reports the gun belonged to a 20-year-old who lives at the home.
Deputies told the station an aunt was responsible for watching Roman at the residence at the time of the shooting. Relatives stated they had left the child at the home while intending to go out with friends, the station's report says.
A Confused Report on Roman's Age
Law enforcement officers initially reported the child was 2 years old, but the outlet says it confirmed the boy is 3 — a detail that matters given his cousin, Misi Houston, says he had just marked his third birthday a week before the shooting. The discrepancy has not been otherwise explained in the reporting.
Houston told the station she believes criminal charges are warranted in the case and stressed the importance of gun safety. Caldwell County deputies are scheduled to consult the district attorney to review the investigation, per the same account, though what the district attorney ultimately decides has not been reported.
A Pattern Playing Out Across North Carolina
The Caldwell County case echoes a shooting on August 29, 2026, in Raleigh, where police said a 23-month-old child was accidentally shot in the arm after two children under age 3 gained access to an unsecured firearm inside a Ridgewood Drive home, according to WRAL. Investigators determined the children were handling the gun when it discharged once, striking one child in the arm; that child was treated and released. In that case, the child's father, 30-year-old Jacquan Corbett, was arrested and charged with negligent child abuse causing serious injury, permitting children to use firearms, felony possession of Schedule I narcotics and felony maintaining a dwelling.
North Carolina law includes a statute titled “Storage of firearms to protect minors,” which addresses a person who resides on the same premises as a minor and owns or possesses a firearm, according to the North Carolina General Assembly. A separate statute, titled “Permitting young children to use dangerous firearms,” makes it unlawful for a person to knowingly permit a child under age 12 to do so, per the North Carolina General Assembly's text of that law.
Loaded Guns Remain Common in North Carolina Homes
The circumstances in Caldwell County reflect a broader pattern in the state. Among North Carolina households with a firearm in or around the home, 43.8% reported storing it loaded, according to a CDC report — the highest rate cited in that data. That figure means more than four in ten North Carolina households with a firearm in or around the home reported storing it loaded.
No arrests or charges had been confirmed in the Caldwell County case as of the latest reporting, and the aunt, the 20-year-old firearm owner, and the other relatives involved have not been identified. Deputies' consultation with the district attorney remains pending.
