Toddler accidentally shoots Army veteran
Christa Engles, 26, seen here in January after the birth of her daughter. She was accidentally shot dead Monday by her 3-year-old toddler son as she changed the infant girl's diaper, police said.
A young mom was accidentally shot dead Monday by her toddler son as she changed her 1-year-old daughter?s diaper, police in Oklahoma said.
The ?horrible, horrible accident,? happened around 4:30 p.m., when the 3-year-old boy found the loaded semiautomatic handgun and fired a shot, hitting 26-year-old Christa Engles in the head, Tulsa police told the Tulsa World.
She died 60 minutes later.
Her mother and husband also live at the South 168th East Avenue home, but neither was home at the time.
"The grandmother came in and supposedly found the two children covered in blood," neighbor Vera Bennett told KOKI-TV.
Police said there were several guns in the home, but the toddler found the "large caliber" handgun under a couch before he fired the fatal bullet. As the little boy was taken from the home to be interviewed by police, he repeated over and over again, "Mommy shot," KJRH-TV reported.
Brian Engles, the husband, was working out of state as a truck driver when he learned his wife had been hospitalized with a life-threatening gunshot wound. He took to Facebook to urge family and friends to pray for his wife - before breaking the bad news.
?I lost my Wife to an accident yesterday,? he wrote early Tuesday. ?Don't forget to tell your loved ones they are loved. You really never know when the last I love you really is the last.?
Cops spoke with the little boy, who confirmed to police what had happened. The shooting was described by police as ?a horrible, horrible accident.?
On Facebook, Engles is pictured wearing Army fatigues and refers to herself as ?Spc? Engles. The Tulsa World confirmed she was an enrolled military member.
?It's a new day, it will be my first without you,? her devastated husband wrote on Facebook. ?I have so much on my mind but it doesn't matter. I know you loved me, I worship the ground you walked on. I am the luckiest man alive, to have been able to love you. Since the day i met you you have been the best part of me. I love you Precious Angel.?