IAN ALLEN - 2 yo - Fort Myers FL

by twinkletoes on Mon Jan 16, 2012 12:58 pm

2-year-old dies after shooting himself in the head
By STEVEN BEARDSLEYA
Posted January 12, 2010 at 8:59 a.m., updated January 12, 2010 at 5:44 p.m.

2-year-old south Fort Myers child died after accidentally shooting himself on Monday night and now two agencies are investigating how it happened.

The child, Ian Heath Allen, would have turned 3 in April.

A Lee County sheriff’s report gave the following details:

Deputy Charles Beatty responded to the home, in the 14000 block of Calusa Palms Drive, around 9 p.m. to find Allen crying in his great-grandmother’s arms, a gunshot wound to his head.

The child died at 10:30 p.m. at Lee Memorial Hospital in Fort Myers.

One resident of the home, 29-year-old Michael J. Watkins, told Beatty that he was in a bedroom on the other side of the house when he heard the gunshot. He found the great-grandmother, Michelle D. Freiburger, 47, in the living room. Freiburger told Watkins the child had shot himself
and to call 911.

Beatty found Freiburger in the driveway when he arrived.

The victim’s parents, Nikkia B. Foster, 21, and Ian Heath Allen, 21, were both notified of the death. It’s not clear whether they were inside the home at the time of the shooting.

The victim’s infant brother, 4-month-old Aidan J. Allen, also was inside the home when the shooting occurred.

Two women standing outside the home on Tuesday afternoon said the family wasn’t inside, and they declined to discuss the shooting.
Next-door-neighbor Beth Cole, 41, said her family was unaware of the shooting until they saw police cars on Monday night. She called her neighbors “very nice people” and said the great-grandmother lives at the home with another roommate.

A Sheriff’s Office investigation will await the results of an autopsy, agency spokeswoman Sgt. Stephanie Eller said.

“This autopsy will determine the direction things go,” Eller said.

Child protection investigators with the Department of Children and Families are also investigating the shooting, agency spokeswoman Erin Gillespie said.

“What we’re looking at is if someone is at fault — not at fault criminally, but for child protection — in this incident,” she said.

The family has no history with the agency, Gillespie said.
- The last time a child was fatally killed in a shooting accident was in 2005, according to Gillespie. The father faced criminal charges in that case.
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2010/jan/12/report-3-year-old-dies-after-shooting-himself-head/

by TomTerrific0420 on Mon Jan 16, 2012 3:50 pm

I respectfully submit that even with a "hair" trigger no child of this age would be able to completely pull the trigger.

by babyjustice on Mon Jan 16, 2012 4:12 pm

What do you think happened Tom? One of the adults accidentally shot the gun and it hit the boy?

by twinkletoes on Mon Jan 16, 2012 5:23 pm

I'm with you on this Tom. Also, the only other child is an infant. How convenient that the adults were all outside. I would never leave a 2 year old alone, let alone alone with a GUN.

by TomTerrific0420 on Tue Jan 17, 2012 2:49 am

I cannot speculate on the circumstances but whatever the case that trigger was pulled by an adult. Easy to determine who with a GSR test. Certainly hope that CSI tested everyone.

IAN ALLEN - 2 yo - Fort Myers FL

IAN ALLEN - 2 yo - Fort Myers FL

Re: IAN ALLEN - 2 yo - Fort Myers FL

Re: IAN ALLEN - 2 yo - Fort Myers FL

Re: IAN ALLEN - 2 yo - Fort Myers FL

Re: IAN ALLEN - 2 yo - Fort Myers FL