4-Year-Old Louisiana Boy Shoots Himself in Back Seat of Car While Mom Smoked Marijuana in Front Seat

A 4-year-old boy in Louisiana fatally shot himself inside a car he was sitting in with his mother, who was smoking weed in the front seat with a friend.

Jarion Walker was killed on Saturday while sitting in the car with his two younger siblings and two adults, NOLA reports. The Sheriff’s Office said the two adults were smoking marijuana in the front seat when a firearm was discharged inside the vehicle.

The shooting happened around 10:45 p.m. Saturday in the city of Westwego, a suburb of New Orleans. Walker was taken to the hospital, where he died from his injuries. Authorities say Walker was playing with his father’s gun and fatally shot himself in the forehead, The Independent reports.

The other two children in the backseat were a 1-year-old, and a 22-month-old, who police determined were too young to have fired the weapon. Eventually, Walker’s mother admitted that she was smoking marijuana with a friend in the front seat when the firearm was discharged.

Authorities believe the boy located the weapon under the seat. The two adults say there were not aware the gun was in the car and that the boy had accessed it until they heard a gunshot, People reports.

An autopsy determined Walker died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the front of the head.

“These kinds of deaths can certainly be prevented,” Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joseph Lopinto said. “Gun safety is something that is apparent, and we should never leave a gun inside a vehicle for various reasons, this one being one of the most tragic reasons.”

Authorities have not made any arrests as they feel it is not appropriate at this time.

“They just lost a child, it certainly wasn’t intentional by any means. When we collect all the evidence, we’ll see where it goes,” Lopinto said.