USA, 2-year-old boy kills his mother with his father’s gun

Little Paul (the name is fictitious), 2 years old, took advantage of a moment of distraction from the mother, who was doing the laundry, to sneak into his parents’ bedroom. She opened the Dad’s nightstand drawer, pulled out a pistol and pointed it at the back of his 31-year-old mother, who was eight months pregnant. Killing her.

It happened in Ohio. It was the woman herself, Laura Ilg – who, after the shooting, remained conscious for a long time and was able to explain what had happened – she who called the police, explaining that she had been shot by her baby, with a semi-automatic pistol charge, inside their Norwalk home. A few minutes later, her husband Alek, who was away from home on business, also called for help, alerted by his wife, who managed to call him as well.

Rescuers found the mother and baby in the bedroom. The woman was rushed to the hospital, where surgeons performed a caesarean section. But the fetus died and, after three hours, the mother also passed away.

Before she died, Laura explained to the police that the bedroom was usually locked. In the house, the agents found two more firearms: a loaded 12-gauge shotgun, in the couple’s bedroom closet, and an airsoft rifle from the office closet.

In the USA, each year, more than 30,000 people are killed by firearms: the average is thirty victims per day. Half are between 18 and 35 years old (like Laura), a third under twenty. According to the association Gun Violence Archive, there have now been 226 mass shootings (ie, four or more fatalities) this year alone, and a total of 16,016 gun-related deaths (9,108 of which were suicides). Throughout the country there are 120 pistols for every 100 inhabitants.