Toddler dead after finding gun in a couch, shooting himself: Officials
Toddler dead after finding gun in a couch, shooting himself: Officials
A 2-year-old boy is dead after he gained access to a gun in a Southern California home and shot himself, authorities said.
The child’s mother, Jamaria Cobb, 20, and her boyfriend, Armand Bright, 52, were arrested for child abuse causing great bodily injury or death, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office.
The shooting happened on July 16 in Highland, California, a city of about 57,000 residents in San Bernardino County, about 65 miles east of Los Angeles.
Deputies were dispatched to the home at about 5:27 p.m. for reports of a 2-year-old who had been shot, the sheriff’s office said.
They began life-saving measures on the child before emergency medical personnel responded and transported the child to a hospital, where he died soon after, officials said in a July 17 news release.
Investigators said the child gained access to a gun hidden between two seat cushions on a couch and shot himself while Cobb and Bright were inside the home. Another child in the home was taken by Child and Family Services, sheriff’s officials said.
They couple was jailed at the Central Detention Center in San Bernardino, with bail set at over $1.3 million, reported the Victorville Daily Press, part of the USA TODAY Network. It wasn’t immediately clear whether they had attorneys who could comment on their behalf. USA TODAY has reached out to the San Bernardino County Public Defender’s Office.
Accidental shootings among children a major problem in the US
The shooting in California is one of more than 140 so far in 2026 in which a child gained access to a gun and unintentionally shot themselves or someone else, according to a database by Everytown for Gun Safety. As of July 9, 142 accidental shootings have resulted in 49 deaths and 97 injuries, according to the tracker. It happened about 360 times per year between 2015 and 2024, the group found.
A 4-year-old Georgia child on vacation with his family in Florida shot and killed a 2-year-old boy on July 12 after finding an unsecured gun in a car, reported the USA TODAY Network in Florida. They day before that, a 1-year-old boy fatally shot himself after his father allegedly left a gun safe open in an Ohio home, the Columbus Dispatch, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported.
More: Startling percentage of homes have unlocked, loaded guns, endangering kids, study finds
There are about 6.7 million children in the United States living in homes with guns that are not secured, meaning that they are stored unlocked and loaded, according to the organization Brady in a 2025 report. That number has climbed in the past 10 years, from about 4.6 million in 2015.
In California, laws prohibit leaving a gun unsecured by a safety mechanism or a gun safe, and there are harsh punishments for leaving a gun where a child can access it if it results in injury or death.
This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Toddler dead after finding gun in a couch, shooting himself: Officials
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