PALATKA, Fla. (AP) — Sheriff's investigators Wednesday were trying to determine how a 4-year-old boy had access to a gun he used to shoot his mother as she drove a pickup truck in north Florida.
Putnam County Sheriff's Office spokesman Joseph Wells says 31-year-old Jamie Gilt of Jacksonville owns the .45-caliber gun the boy fired Tuesday afternoon.
A deputy saw her behaving frantically inside the truck, which was stopped partially in the road.
The deputy then saw she'd been shot in the back and the bullet had exited from her stomach area.
Wells says Gilt told deputies her son had accidentally shot her. She was taken to a hospital and was in stable condition, he said.
Wells says investigators haven't been able to interview her.
It is a misdemeanor under Florida law for someone to store or leave a loaded gun where a child has access.
"They must keep firearms secured and locked," Wells said.
The boy, who was not injured, is with relatives. The Florida Department of Children and Families is also investigating.