Family: 4-year-old boy killed in accidental shooting

EAST CHICAGO, Ind. -- A 4-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed himself early Thursday morning after finding a gun in his home in East Chicago, Ind., relatives said.

Garrion Glover Jr. was just days away from celebrating his fifth birthday. But the little boy who loved to play with toy guns never made it.

"They were all asleep and he got hold of a gun and he shot himself, fatally shot himself," said LaToya Glover, the boy's grandmother.

Glover said Garrion lived in an apartment in the 3500-block of Guthrie Street. His mother told her she heard a loud boom overnight.

Police said she had been asleep in her bedroom with her boyfriend when they heard the noise. She found her son lying on the floor in the living room, near the couch where Garrion's uncle had been sleeping, bleeding.

"They got up and they ran. It looked like he was asleep. So they're looking, but when they moved him, it was a whole different scenario," LaToya Glover said.

Police responded to a report of an assault with a firearm just before 12:05 a.m. Garrion was rushed to Saint Catherine Hospital, where he died at 3:05 a.m., the Lake County Coroner's Office said. An autopsy did not rule on his manner of death, which is pending further studies.

Glover said this is the second tragedy for her family.

The child's father, Garrion Glover Sr., was shot and killed at the same apartment complex in 2014, when the boy was almost two.

LaToya Glover and other family members said her grandson's tragic death could have been prevented.

"I was angry because first and foremost, if there's a handgun on the premises, it should be put away," Glover said.

"To him - it probably was a toy to him. That's what he probably thought it was," said Kenny Trout, the boy's cousin. "It should have been locked away and put on a shelf somewhere where he couldn't reach it."

Andrew Holmes, an anti-violence activist, agreed.

"They're not getting it and they're not listening. If they were getting it and listening, this baby would still be living. So somebody has to be held accountable," Holmes said.

Anyone with information on the shooting should call Detectives Machuca and Orange at (219) 391-8326; or the anonymous hotline at (219) 391-8500.