Ohio Toddler Killed in Accidental Shooting, Authorities Say

Preliminary evidence indicates that the shooting was accidental, occurring after children got ahold of a firearm that had been left loaded and unsecured.

Rudy Blalock

Published: 6/17/2026, 10:43:17 PM EDT

Ohio Toddler Killed in Accidental Shooting, Authorities Say — Police tape in a file photo. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

A 2-year-old boy is dead after children at an Ohio home got hold of a loaded, unsecured firearm.

Authorities said the tragedy could have been prevented, and the case is now the subject of an active criminal investigation.

At approximately 12:11 p.m. on June 13, the Defiance County Sheriff's Office responded to a 911 call at a residence on Buckskin Road in Hicksville Township, where they found the toddler suffering from a critical gunshot wound.

The Hicksville Police Department and Hicksville Fire and EMS also responded to the scene, according to a joint statement issued on June 16 by the Defiance County Sheriff's Office and Defiance County Prosecutor's Office. The child was rushed to Parkview Bryan Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Preliminary evidence indicates that the shooting was accidental, and occurred after children got ahold of a firearm that was left loaded and unsecured. Adult family members were at the property at the time. Investigators said those adults are fully cooperating with the ongoing probe.

"This heartbreaking incident serves as a stark and painful reminder of the critical importance of properly securing firearms and the need for close attention to firearm safety," authorities said in the statement.

Gun Storage and Accidental Child Shootings Linked: Attorney

The case is the latest in a pattern of accidental child shootings that have drawn attention to Ohio's gun storage practices. In February, a 10-year-old boy in Toledo was shot in the neck after another 10-year-old found a gun inside a home and—believing it to be unloaded—accidentally fired it, Toledo Police said in a press release. That child survived and was in stable condition.

Ohio does not require gun owners to store their firearms safely, leaving compliance entirely up to residents, according to Stephen Wagner, managing partner and attorney at Wagner Reese.

"Ohio doesn't require safe storage and instead relies on the voluntary efforts of its residents, but in cases like this, you can see that it clearly falls short," Wagner told NTD News following the February Toledo shooting. "States that do require secure storage have far lower rates of unintentional shootings for children and teens."

Wagner noted that Ohio law does hold parents criminally accountable when a minor causes injury or death with a firearm. "It's a felony when parents don't do their part to prevent children from accessing guns in the home," he said, adding that negligence claims can exceed statutory limits.

According to advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety, there were at least 122 unintentional shootings by children so far in 2026, resulting in 43 deaths and 81 injuries nationally.

Separately, Everytown Research & Policy analysis found that more than 4,400 children and teens are shot and killed, and over 17,000 more are wounded each year, with an estimated three million children exposed to shootings annually. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that firearms are the leading cause of death for children and teens ages one to 19 in 2020 and 2021 in the United States, according to a CDC study.