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2-year-old finds gun and fatally shoots self, Georgia cops say. Now, dad charged

A father has been charged after his toddler son died in an accidental shooting, Georgia police say.
A father has been charged after his toddler son died in an accidental shooting, Georgia police say. Getty Images

A 2-year-old boy died in an accidental shooting, and now his father is charged in his death, Georgia police told news outlets.

Officers responded at about 5:40 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 2, to shots fired at a home in the Candler-McAfee community near Decatur, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported, citing DeKalb County police.

Investigators believe the toddler found his father’s gun that was left unattended, picked it up and accidentally shot himself, WAGA reported.

He was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries and later died, police told the station.

McClatchy News reached out to the DeKalb County Police Department for more information Oct. 3 and was awaiting a response.

The boy’s father, Michael Labiran, 39, was charged with felony murder and child cruelty, WSB-TV reported, citing police.

Labiran remained in the Dekalb County Jail as of Oct. 3, online records show.

Additional information wasn’t immediately available.

Decatur is about a 10-mile drive northeast from downtown Atlanta.

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This story was originally published October 3, 2024 at 9:28 AM with the headline "2-year-old finds gun and fatally shoots self, Georgia cops say. Now, dad charged."

Tanasia Kenney
Sun Herald
Tanasia is a service journalism reporter at the Charlotte Observer | CharlotteFive, working remotely from Atlanta, Georgia. She covers restaurant openings/closings in Charlotte and statewide explainers for the NC Service Journalism team. She’s been with McClatchy since 2020.
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