2-Year-Old Boy Dies After Apparent Self-Inflicted Gunshot: Police

A bundle of police crime scene tape in a file photo. Apu Gomes/AFP via Getty Images

A 2-year-old North Carolina boy died after an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, said authorities.

The boy injured himself on Sept. 16 but was pronounced dead on Saturday, officials told ABC11.

The shooting is still under investigation. The child’s name hasn’t been released.

It’s not clear how the boy shot himself or how he was able to obtain the firearm.

Fayetteville police Lt. Gary Womble said that two adults and possibly a teenager were in the home at the time of the shooting, reported CBS17.

“I don’t have any information as to how the child was shot at this point,” said Womble. “The detectives are working that angle to find out because we want to know certainly what happened to the child so that’s what they’re learning right now.”

Authorities said the boy was airlifted to UNC Hospital in Chapel Hill at around 10 a.m. after the incident occurred, CBS17 reported.

“In my opinion, any gunshot wound is serious, especially when it happens to a juvenile,” said Womble last week, reported ABC News. “It’s even more serious and more serious for us in our investigative methods to find out exactly what occurred that a child would suffer a gunshot wound. That’s important to us and that’s what (sic) the detectives are working hard to determine what happened.”

A neighbor said she woke up to hear a woman crying for help after first responders arrived on the scene, according to the ABC affiliate.

Police said that the boy’s father was identified as Alonzo Hurtado, who was found dead on May 7, 2019, inside a vehicle parked at Abbots Landing Apartments in Fayetteville. Hurtado was shot several times, they said.

Other details about the incident are not clear.