Bartow, Florida: 3-Year-Old Boy Dies After Shooting Himself With His Father's Handgun in a Car at a Burger King

Updated 03:38 UTC: A 3 year old boy has died after shooting himself with his father's handgun inside a vehicle at a Burger King in Bartow on Thursday evening, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd told reporters at a 9:30 p.m. briefing, revising the first reports that described a 4 year old critically injured.

Judd said the shooting happened about 6:30 p.m. The family, which moved to Florida from Connecticut four months ago, had gone through the drive thru at the Burger King at 109 E Van Fleet Drive to buy dinner when the father's credit card was declined. The father pulled into a parking spot to deal with the declined card. As he bent over to check his cards, he took his Glock handgun out of his waistband and set it down inside the vehicle, Judd said.

The boy, who was playing unrestrained in the back seat and was four days from his fourth birthday, picked up the gun and shot himself in the face, Judd said. Investigators found a bullet hole in the roof of the car, almost in the center. The father heard a loud pop, jumped out and ran frantically around the vehicle, and a woman in the car next to him jumped out and dialed 911, Judd said, describing surveillance video from the parking lot.

The boy was rushed to Lakeland Regional Health, where he was pronounced dead about 7:30 p.m. Judd said both parents are managers for Lowe's and are well thought of. No arrests were made on Thursday evening.

Judd said there is a culpable negligence statute that makes it a third degree felony if a child gets a firearm and injures himself or someone else. Detectives are sending the investigative information to the State Attorney's Office, which will decide whether any charges are filed. Judd said investigators currently see no immediate indication pointing toward criminal prosecution, FOX 13 reported. Bartow police are leading the investigation, with the Polk County Sheriff's Office assisting.

A 4 year old child was critically injured on Thursday evening after being shot inside a vehicle in the parking lot of a Burger King in Bartow, Florida, the Polk County Sheriff's Office said.

The shooting happened at the Burger King at 109 E Van Fleet Drive in Bartow. The child was shot inside the vehicle and suffered critical injuries, the sheriff's office told local outlets. The child's name has not been released.

Who is investigating

The Bartow Police Department is leading the investigation, and the Polk County Sheriff's Office is assisting, both agencies said. A picture from the scene posted on the sheriff's office X page showed a white Toyota sedan with what appeared to be a medical kit lying across the rear, The Ledger reported.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd was expected to give more details at a 9:30 p.m. briefing on Thursday night. Local outlets had not reported new facts from that briefing when this story was published, and the basic account from the sheriff's office had not changed: a small child, a gunshot inside a car, and a restaurant parking lot in Bartow.

What officials have not said

Investigators have not confirmed what caused the gun to fire. They have not said who was handling the firearm, whether the shooting was accidental or intentional, or whether anyone else was in the vehicle when it happened.

Officials have not released any details about suspects, arrests or possible charges, FOX 13 reported. They have not said where the child was taken for treatment, and they have not given an update on the child's condition beyond describing the injuries as critical in the first reports from the sheriff's office on Thursday evening.

That silence is normal in the first hours of a case like this, when detectives are still interviewing the people who were at the scene and working out the order of events inside the car. But it also means the central question in Bartow is still unanswered tonight: how a 4 year old came to be shot inside a parked vehicle at a fast food restaurant, and who was holding the gun.

What happens next

Bartow police and sheriff's investigators will have to establish who owned the firearm, who had access to it inside the vehicle, and what happened in the moments before the shot. Those answers will decide whether this case ends as a criminal prosecution, or as a finding that a gun left within a child's reach fired with a child paying the price.

For now, the facts that are confirmed are few and stark. A 4 year old was shot inside a vehicle at 109 E Van Fleet Drive on Thursday evening, Oct. 22. The injuries were described as critical. Two agencies are investigating, Bartow police in the lead and the Polk County Sheriff's Office assisting. Sheriff Judd was scheduled to speak at 9:30 p.m.

Anyone with information about the shooting should contact Bartow police or the Polk County Sheriff's Office, the agencies running the investigation. This story will be updated when investigators release the circumstances of the shooting or an update on the child's condition.