Former police officer indicted for reckless homicide after 3-year-old dies from gunshot

The loaded gun was found unsecured on a window sill, according to Lindsay Sheehan, assistant Butler County prosecutor.

Emergency crews responded at about 7 p.m. March 30 to the 900 block of Park Avenue and found the child with a gunshot wound on the left side of his head.

He was taken from the scene by ambulance to Kettering Health Hamilton on Eaton Avenue, then to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital where he died, according to the Hamilton County Coroner’s office.

Police were alerted to the shooting when a male 911 caller told dispatchers about the incident.

“He picked up a firearm,” the caller told a Butler County dispatcher.

After a few questions on his condition, the dispatcher asked, “He did shoot himself, right?”

“Yes, we believe so,” the caller said.

The caller said the gun used was on the second story at the residential home when it was discharged. The caller said the child’s mom is a nurse but could not control the bleeding despite applying pressure. The boy also experienced seizures after he apparently shot himself.