A night of babysitting went wrong after a 19-year-old girl started taking selfies with a gun she found in the apartment — unaware that it was loaded.

CNNA 19 - year - erstwhile aunt babysitting her nephew was catch after she incidentally shot him while taking selfies with a gunman .

It should ’ve been a routine baby sitting night for Caitlyn Smith . But when the 19 - year - erstwhile found a loaded gun — and begin take selfies with it — things took a turn for the worst .

According toCNN , Smith arrived at the Houston flat of her relative to babysit her 10 - year - honest-to-goodness nephew on Tuesday even . At some point during the trend of the evening , Smith find a gun in the apartment . Thinking it was offload , she take the gun and began impersonate on her fluid phone camera .

Caitlyn Smith Gun Selfie

CNNA 19-year-old aunt babysitting her nephew was arrested after she accidentally shot him while taking selfies with a gun.

Then , the gun accidentally went off and the stray heater hit her nephew justly in his belly . The boy was like a shot taken to the infirmary . Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez twinge the incident as he was en road to the scene and followed up with an update about the boy ’s condition the next day .

“ Update : the 10 - yr - old child is lean in serious consideration but is require to make a full convalescence , ” Gonzalez wrote . He also partake that the boy ’s aunt had been catch and charged with accidental injury to a child - serious bodily accidental injury which is a second degree felony .

The lucky 10 - class - old seems to be physically out of harm ’s manner . But , like many survivors of gun violence , the shaver will belike need psychological care as well to heal from the trauma of the accident .

Girl Ar 15 Idaho

Keith Ridler/APCharles Nielsen speaks in front of Idaho lawmakers as his granddaughter, Bailey, stands at his side with an AR-15.

Gun wildness remains one of the leading causes of death in the US . Based on an synergistic mapping compiled by the self-governing newsworthiness organizationThe Trace , which comprehend gun furiousness , there have been at least 2,842 shootings in Houston itself since 2014 though datum from the last five years indicates that the routine of shot have dropped each yr .

Update : the 10 - yr - old nipper is number in serious condition but is expected to make a full retrieval . The child ’s aunt , Caitlyn Smith ( w / f 19 yrs ) , has been arrested & charged with Injury to a fry - serious bodily injury . ( 2nd degree felony ) . smashing work by our Child Abuse Unit andhttps://t.co/ik5tSVKoRy

— Ed Gonzalez ( @SheriffEd_HCSO)February 27 , 2020

At least 1,623 people were killed by gun violence in the city within that same time period while 2,028 others were wound . Last year alone , a sum of at least 15,292 people werefatally shotaround the US .

That ’s a three percent step-up compare to the total of hit man - relate death in 2018 , allot to the Gun Violence Archive , a nonprofit formation that give chase incident of hitman violence .

“ firearm are dangerous artillery so take precautions to make certain thing like that do n’t happen , ” Gilliland enjoin . “ Taking selfies was not the best affair to be doing . ”

Accidental triggerman deaths make up roughly one per centum of full gun - touch death in the land . Although instance of accidental gun expiry are rarefied , they still take place frequently enough that firearms safety persist a full-grown part of the contentious debate on the country ’s gun control .

In a neighborhood nearby where the 10 - year - old boy had accidentally been shot , a four - yr - old boy was killed after he unexpectedly shoot himself with a gun that he found at his babysitter ’s house five years ago . What ’s worse , the cataclysm fall out following the death of another Houston bambino who had been unintentionally shot a mere three days before .

“ It ’s just a wicked stroke , ” a relation of the dead toddler ’s mothertoldtheHouston Chroniclethen in tears . “ We see it all the metre on the intelligence but you never think it ’ll hit home . It ’s the most ugly thing . ”

Keith Ridler / APCharles Nielsen speak in front of Idaho lawmaker as his granddaughter , Bailey , stands at his side with an AR-15 .

The immense brokenheartedness and regret leave in the wake of gun incidents involving children is a far battle cry from a recent scene at the Idaho Statehouse earlier this workweek . An 11 - year - older girl made headlines after her grandpa had hertote around an AR-15 rifleduring a auditory sense on gun statute law .

Charles Nielsen addressed the hearing committee as his granddaughter , Bailey , stood next to him with the assault rifle slung over her shoulder like a coarse tote bag bag .

“ Bailey is carrying a loaded AR-15 , ” Nielsen announced while his granddaughter remain firm silently by his side with her small-arm . “ the great unwashed live in fright , terrify of that which they do not sympathize . She ’s been shooting since she was 5 years old . She become her first cervid with this weapon at 9 . She carries it responsibly . She knows how not to put her digit on the trigger . We experience in fright in a bon ton that is fed fear on a everyday basis . ”

The bill Nielsen spoke in support of would allow visitors to the Gem State who are legally permitted to own firearm to bear a hold back handgun in the metropolis of Boise . The lawmaking is still being considered by Idaho lawmakers but if it does croak and becomes law , Idaho would be one of a handful of states in the US that allow such conceal carry practice .

Next , read the horrifying news show ofa toddler who shot two three - year - olds at a hired gun - depend on daycarein Michigan and theman who accidentally shot himself while robbing a wiener stand .