In yet another incident of US children falling prey to gun violence, a two-year-old boy in Texas killed himself after he accidentally fired a shot.

He was a resident of Waco city, found a gun in the backpack of one of his relatives. The gun and the child were left unattended.

Upon spotting the gun, the two-year-old boy reached out for the fun and shot himself in the head.

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The boy was rushed to the hospital as soon as he was found, but he succumbed to his injuries in the hospital, an official police statement read.

As per the local police, the gun belonged to a 21-year-old relative of the minor who fled the scene of crime with the gun, immediately after the incident.

However, he later returned along with the weapon and was immediately detained on charges of evidence tampering.

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This incident has added to the tragic and long list of children falling prey to unintentional shootings and the rising gun violence in the US.

“Every year, hundreds of children in the United States gain access to unsecured, loaded guns in closets and nightstand drawers, in backpacks and purses, or just left out,” Everytown For Gun Safety, a gun control advocacy organisation said on its website. “With tragic regularity, children find these unsecured guns and unintentionally shoot (themselves) or someone else.”

The group also states that more than 1,500 people have been injured in unintentional shootings and at least 765 have been killed between 2015 and 2020. In 2021, at least 111 people have been killed in gun violence.

(With inputs from agencies)