While driving on State Road 20, a Florida mother was shot in her back by her 4-year-old son with a .45-caliber pistol he found on the floor of her pickup truck, police said Wednesday. The incident occurred in Putnam County, Fla. Officials have not been able to interview the victim due to her medical condition.
Jamie Gilt, 31, was driving to a relative's home on Tuesday afternoon to pick up a horse when her son, who was sitting in the seat behind hers, pulled the trigger, the Putnam County Sheriff's Department said in a news release.
NBC News reported a deputy noticed Gilt's truck and horse trailer, and "observed an adult female in the driver's seat motioning to him as if she needed assistance. The deputy ran to the vehicle and quickly determined that the driver had been shot." The deputy provided first aid until paramedics arrived.
Before being transported to the emergency room, Gilt told deputies her son had accidentally shot her. The investigation by Major Crimes Unit Detectives and the analysis of the crime scene confirmed that the victim was accidentally shot by the young boy who was sitting in the back seat of the vehicle.
Gilt was rushed to hospital in Gainesville, Fla., where she was in stable condition. Her boy, who was not harmed, was turned over to relatives, the release stated.
Florida Department of Children and Family Services staffers are investigating how Gilt's son got his hands on her pistol.
"The firearm was legally owned by the victim and the child came to possess the firearm without the victim's knowledge," the news release stated.
Under Florida law, "it a misdemeanor for a person to store or leave, on a premise under his or her control, a loaded firearm in such a manner that it is likely a child can gain access to the firearm."
Putnam County Sheriff's officers are investigating to determine exactly how the firearm was stored in the vehicle.
Several Facebook pages have started to appear due to this incident, from both supports and opponents of guns.
According to Raw Story, Gilt frequently posts about her love of guns and her views on Second Amendment rights, as well as her support for Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz and racist propaganda. In fact, she reportedly boasted the night before the shooting on Facebook that her "4-year-old gets jacked up to target shoot the .22," in response to her post suggesting that guns are a better response to a burglary than calling 911.
She also shared a Twitter post last January about a new handgun -- which she described as her "new toy" -- she was excited about receiving.
