Latisha Walker, Sacramento, California mother arrested after 4 year old son find’s loaded unsecured gun in car, shoots self but survives. Mom now faces 3 felony charges.
A California mother was arrested on Friday after her 4 year old son found a loaded, unsecured gun in her car and shot himself. Despite the trauma, the child is expected to survive.
Latisha Walker, 26, of Sacramento is alleged to have left her son alone at a parking lot located at the 4500 block of Mack Road while she went inside a business, according to KCRA.
Circa 1.45pm, customers inside nearby businesses heard the boy cry for help. Shynice Cordoba, a 19-year-old who was inside a nail salon at the time, told KCRA that while she didn’t hear a gunshot, she heard both the mother screaming and a ‘noise.’
Hero 19 year old witness
‘I go outside, he’s just laying on the floor,’ said Cordoba. ‘I need something to put pressure on his wound. .. I get the tissue and I put it on his wound. He was talking to me and I was talking to him, he was really scared.’
‘He kept saying he shot himself, he shot himself. So I was like, ‘It’s okay you’re not in trouble. It’s fine,’ she continued.
‘He wanted me to pick him up,’ the witness continued. ‘But I had to reassure him and tell him, no, you can’t get up. You have to stay here. And we talked about Paw Patrol and how old he was and stuff. Until they got here.’
A police spokesperson told CBS Sacramento that the child was given medical aid on-site before being brought to the hospital.
According to KCRA, the first responder ‘put pressure on his wound’ and helped ‘keep him on his side.’
Investigators alleged the boy’s mother was at fault for leaving the loaded unsecured weapon in the vehicle, charging Walker on 3 felony charges, including having a concealed firearm in a vehicle, criminal storage of a firearm and endangering the life of a child.
Sacramento Police Department spokesman Officer Anthony Gamble told the Sacramento Bee that the shooting was under investigation, with officers looking into how the boy got a hold of the weapon.
Walker’s bail was set to $75,000, with the mother posting on Sunday.
Walker is slated to make her first court appearance on Wednesday, Oct. 31.
