Posts Tagged ‘loss’

Thursday afternoon was the last afternoon 2009 would see. It was also the last afternoon a toddler in Rayville, Louisiana would see. I pulled up our local news yesterday to find the following article about a 3 year old boy who accidentally shot and killed his 3 year old cousin with his father’s pistol, issued to him by the Rayville Police Department.

Rayville police responded to a shooting Thursday afternoon that resulted in the death of a 3-year-old girl, the niece of a police officer apparently shot by his 3-year-old son.

Sheriff Charles McDonald said the Rayville Police Department received a call around 2:30 p.m. about a possible shooting on Waldorf Street.

McDonald said an off-duty Rayville officer was visiting another off-duty officer.

He said two children were playing in the front yard.

McDonald said when the visiting officer arrived at the residence, he turned to the inside of his vehicle to get something. While he was turned, the boy walked up and picked up the officer’s firearm, which was in the driver’s side door. McDonald said the boy pulled the trigger and accidently shot the girl, killing her instantly.

McDonald called the incident a “tragic accident.”

The names of the officers and the children involved were not immediately released.

The only thing I can imagine being more horrific than witnessing such a tragic accident is being the parent of the child that passed away. There are so many things we can think after accidents happen, but once something is done, it’s done. I’ve had heated debates about how overly protective I am of my children. I’ve heard people say, “No one is going to do such-and-such to my child because they know if they did, I would {insert action here}.” The point is, once it is done there is nothing you can do to undo it. No matter what your response is, the situation still is what it was to begin with.

When it comes to children, you can’t have afterthoughts. You can’t live reactively. You have to think proactively. You can’t take action on the backend. You have to be careful on the front end. You have to think about the what-ifs of life in advance. Once it’s too late, there is no going back… and when accidents turn fatal, there is no fixing it… there is no learning from it… There is only regret and emptiness, and trying to find enough comfort to move on. Taking care of children is a job that never ends. Being aware of what is around when children are present is often a draining chore. You constantly have to make sure that there is nothing small they can choke on, nothing harmful they can reach to put in their mouth…

When you become comfortable with certain things being around children, that is when you stop being so aware. I’m certainly not placing blame or pointing fingers. Accidents do happen, unfortunately. When they do, it’s time for the rest of us to hold our children tightly, thankful that this time it wasn’t us… it wasn’t our child… but learning from that parent’s pain and loss to prevent the same thing from happening to our family. My heart goes out to EVERY parent who has lost a child and my prayers are with this family as they process the grief of knowing this little girl is gone… and this little boy who will grow up to understand that it was his hand that pulled the trigger. I hope that he is not traumatized.

That being said, this is my plea to EVERY person who owns any type of firearm that ever has a chance of coming into contact with a child: keep it locked up… keep it out of reach… and certainly never leave the safety off. This was an accident… and my heart bleeds for the pain these people are going through, but like most accidents, a mistake was made that caused a tragedy which could have been prevented.

Be careful. Be aware. Think ahead.