A 3-year-old child shot and killed their mother, authorities in South Carolina said.
According to the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office, deputies responded to a home on Wednesday after a reported shooting. When they arrived, they found the victim, Cora Lyn Bush, the toddler and their grandmother.
Authorities said the grandmother described what happened, which was corroborated by evidence and injury to the victim.
"Although our investigation remains active, all indications are this incident was a result of the young child gaining access to an unsecured firearm," Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office stated in a post on Facebook.
It's unclear whether anyone will face charges for the gun not properly being stored.
Newtown for Gun Safety, an advocacy group that works to prevent gun violence, tracks the number of unintentional shootings involving children.
As of Sept. 23, the group said there had been at least 194 unintentional shootings by children in the U.S. this year. Those shootings reportedly resulted in 82 deaths and 123 injuries.
The phenomenon is not new. In 2021, the group said there were nearly 400 unintentional shootings by children, resulting in 163 deaths.
