US pregnant woman is fatally shot by her two-year-old son

In the US state of Ohio, a pregnant woman and her unborn child died last week after her two-year-old son shot her in the back with a handgun that was left loaded in the home, according to police.

On Tuesday, police chief David Smith informed the local media that Laura Ilg, 31, had dialled 911 on the afternoon of June 16.Smith told the local ABC affiliate News 5 Cleveland that the woman “explained she was 33 weeks pregnant and her two-year-old had just accidentally shot her in the back with a firearm.”Ilg was rushed to the hospital after police quickly arrived at her home in Norwalk, Ohio, on Friday. However, despite an emergency c-section, Smith said Ilg’s unborn child could not be saved.
Hours later, Ilg succumbed to her wounds, he continued.

The Norwalk Police Department posted on Facebook early on Saturday that it was sending its “sincere and heartfelt condolences to the family, friends, and all those affected by the tragic passing of the young mother and her unborn son.”

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According to Smith, Ilg was awake when the police arrived and informed them that her son had started playing with the gun after finding a way into the usually locked bedroom while she was doing the laundry.

He claimed that in addition to two other loaded guns, police also discovered a Sig Sauer Micro 9mm handgun on a nightstand. According to media reports, Ilg’s husband, who wasn’t home at the time of the incident, claimed ownership of them.

In the United States, which has about 330 million citizens and 400 million guns, the accidental shooting is just the most recent in a long line of similar incidents.

In spite of the presence of five adults, including their parents, in their home, a three-year-old girl shot and killed her four-year-old sister in March while playing with a handgun close to Houston, Texas.

According to the Pew Research Centre, about 40% of US households have guns, and most of them also have children.

On the other hand, the School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University reports that less than half of households with guns store them securely.

Despite some safety precautions being in place at Ilg’s home, police chief Smith urged gun owners to use caution.

“There are countless types of trigger locks and gun safes, and they’re not that expensive. Leave them (the guns) unloaded at the very least, he advised News 5.