--- description: A 2-year-old fatally shot his mother in Milwaukee this week title: This Is How Often Toddlers Shoot People by Mistake image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1043f64f93cbd42f/69888a10cf40a832c6c424f3/hand-gun-fire-arm-shooting.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # This Is How Often Toddlers Shoot People by Mistake by [Josh Sanburn](/author/josh-sanburn/) ## Josh Sanburn Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 28, 2016 4:24 PM CUT  Close-up of a gun Close-up of a gunStockbyte/Getty Images by [Josh Sanburn](/author/josh-sanburn/) ## Josh Sanburn Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 28, 2016 4:24 PM CUT Fatal incidents [involving toddlers and guns](http://time.com/4074648/toddler-gun-violence/?iid=sr-link1 "undefined"), including a deadly shooting this week in Milwaukee, are far more common than you might think. The latest victim was Patrice Price, a 26-year-old Milwaukee mother, who was killed when her 2-year-old son fired a handgun he’d found in the backseat of a car. Officials say the .40-caliber gun apparently slid out from underneath the driver’s seat as Price drove her boyfriend’s car, according to [the Milwaukee _Journal-Sentinel_](http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/two-year-old-finds-loaded-gun-in-back-seat-accidentally-shoots-mom-b99714556z1-377258061.html "undefined"). The toddler then picked up the gun and fired it, hitting his mother in the back. The boy was the 77th child to fire a gun accidentally and harm someone in the U.S. so far this year, according to [Everytown for Gun Safety](http://everytown.org/ "undefined"), a gun control advocacy group. That number includes children age 17 and younger. Four other young children ages 2 to 3 from across the U.S. joined Everytown’s list this week; they all fatally shot themselves after getting their hands on guns, the [New York _Times_ reports](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/28/us/a-toddler-a-loose-gun-in-a-car-and-a-mother-dies.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fus&action=click&contentCollection=us®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=8&pgtype=sectionfront&%5Fr=1 "undefined"). **Read more**:[ Toddlers Shoot Someone Every Week in the U.S.](http://time.com/4074648/toddler-gun-violence/?iid=sr-link1 "undefined") Price’s death this week echoed a similar incident in Florida, where Jamie Gilt, a pro-gun activist, was shot by her 4-year-old son from the back seat of her car in March after the child found a handgun that had been stashed under a seat. Last year, according to [the Washington _Post_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/10/14/people-are-getting-shot-by-toddlers-on-a-weekly-basis-this-year/ "undefined"), 13 toddlers age 3 or younger accidentally killed themselves with a gun, 18 injured themselves, 10 injured others, and two killed other people. Most of the incidents involved unsecured handguns found by toddlers in purses and closets and underneath car seats. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4311066/toddlers-guns-shoot-parents/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4311066/toddlers-guns-shoot-parents/"},"headline":"This Is How Often Toddlers Shoot People by Mistake","datePublished":"2016-04-28T16:24:58.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:06:47.524Z","description":"A 2-year-old fatally shot his mother in Milwaukee this week","url":"https://time.com/4311066/toddlers-guns-shoot-parents/","keywords":["Crime","Gun Control","violence","Gun Violence","Guns"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1043f64f93cbd42f/69888a10cf40a832c6c424f3/hand-gun-fire-arm-shooting.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Josh Sanburn","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/josh-sanburn/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1043f64f93cbd42f/69888a10cf40a832c6c424f3/hand-gun-fire-arm-shooting.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Close-up of a gun","caption":"Close-up of a gun","creditText":"Stockbyte/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4311066/toddlers-guns-shoot-parents/","name":"This Is How Often Toddlers Shoot People by Mistake"}}]}] ```