Man released as investigation continues
The shooting happened around 9 p.m. in the 9600 block of Duluth Drive in St. Louis County. Bellefontaine Neighbors police said the child picked up the gun and fired one round while handling it. He was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
Police took a man into custody after the shooting and said he faces a second-degree child endangerment charge. First Alert 4 (KMOV) reported in an Oct. 26, 2026, follow-up that he had been released pending a warrant from the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney's Office. The investigation remains open.
Other young children shot in the region
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch's running tally of children 17 and younger injured or killed by gunfire in the St. Louis area in 2026 includes several other accidental shootings involving young children.
A 5-year-old died in an accidental shooting in north St. Louis County on Feb. 6. In Florissant, a 3-year-old died May 12 after accidentally shooting himself; his father was charged. The tally also includes 6-year-old Antone Little, who died May 29 after accidentally shooting himself with a gun he found.
Missouri ranks fourth in Everytown's index
Everytown for Gun Safety's #NotAnAccident Index placed Missouri fourth nationally for the rate of unintentional shootings by children during 2015–2024. The state recorded 142 incidents, with a rate of 10.26 per 1 million children. Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee were the only states with higher rates.
Across the country, the index documented at least 3,580 unintentional shootings by children 17 and younger between Jan. 1, 2015, and Dec. 31, 2024. Those shootings killed 1,382 people and wounded 2,317. Everytown described the average as about 360 children a year, or nearly one a day. Annual incidents exceeded 400 at their peak in 2023, then fell 12 percent in 2024.
Preschoolers age 5 and younger accounted for one-third of the shooters in Everytown's analysis. More than 9 in 10 people killed or wounded were younger than 18. Among cases in which researchers knew the firearm type, 86 percent involved handguns.
State storage laws and free gun locks
The Giffords Law Center's Missouri summary, last updated Dec. 31, 2023, says the state has no child-access-prevention or secure-storage law. Under that summary, leaving an unsecured, unattended firearm within reach of an unsupervised minor carries no state penalty.
Giffords also says Missouri does not prescribe how unattended guns must be stored or require a locking device to be provided with a firearm sale. Its prohibition is limited to recklessly selling, leasing, loaning, giving or otherwise delivering a firearm to someone under 18 without a custodial parent's or guardian's consent.
Everytown uses a different classification, placing Missouri in its "intentional or reckless access" category. The group describes that as its least protective category other than having no law.
In its follow-up on the shooting, First Alert 4 reported that police reminded residents where to obtain free gun safety locks: the Bellefontaine Neighbors Police Department, every St. Louis County Library location and the Urban League of St. Louis.
