Toddler ID'd In Fatal Shooting
Gun Difficult To Use, Expert Says
POSTED: Monday, March 10, 2008
UPDATED: 3:46 am EDT March 11,
2008
OCOEE, Fla. -- Authorities on Monday identified the 22-month-old toddler who apparently fatally shot himself in the face after finding a loaded gun in an Ocoee house while the investigation into the incident continued.
Tyler Rodgers was shot and killed Sunday in an Ocoee home located in the 900 block of Keaton Parkway.
The boy's father, whose name has not been released, told Ocoee police that the boy found the gun while others were sleeping and accidentally shot himself. The father could face charges in the shooting.
Police said they will reinterview family members as part of an ongoing investigation.
"The whole family is distraught and rightfully so. At this point, it is an ongoing investigation and nothing has been corroborated," Ocoee police Officer Bill Richardson said earlier on Monday.
The gun used in the shooting was a Smith and Wesson .38-caliber double-action revolver, Ocoee police said.
Gun expert Larry Anderson told Local 6 News that using that type of gun can be complicated and requires strength and dexterity.
"It's a relatively difficult gun to pull the trigger on. A lot of women -- a lot of men -- cannot hold this gun and pull the trigger and effectively shoot it," Anderson said.
Anderson said cocking the trigger requires about 10 pounds of pull and pulling the trigger takes about 14 pounds of pull.
A neighbor, who did not want to be identified, was angered that the gun was not locked.
"Why isn't your gun locked up?" she said. "You have locks on your cell phones, locks on your car doors and child safety locks. What is wrong with you that you don't have a lock on your handgun?"
Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.
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