An Indiana toddler accidentally shot her pregnant mother Tuesday while playing with her father's handgun.
The shooting occurred in a Northwest Indiana parking lot. The 3-year-old shot her mother, identified as Shaneque Thomas, 21, from the back seat of the vehicle while her father was inside a store shopping and trying on clothes, according to WMAQ-TV.
“She had no idea what she had done and she was very scared,” Detective Sgt. James Bogner said, WMAQ-TV reported.
The girl’s 1-year-old brother, who also was inside the vehicle, was not harmed.
The father, identified by police to WMAQ-TV as Menzo Brazien, is charged with child endangerment.
“A loaded weapon with children in the back seat: real careless act,” Merrilville Police Chief Joe Petruch told WMAQ-TV.
The mother is in critical but stable condition, the news station reported.