A video of a toddler finding a gun out of a couch cushion and discharging it “nearly pointed at his face” was made public by the city attorney in Columbus, Ohio, as a warning to other parents about gun safety.
The footage shows two young children playing inside a house when one of them reaches into a couch cushion and pulls out a gun.
In a statement to the media, Zach Klein, the city attorney for Columbus, claimed that when the gun went off, it almost struck the child and caused burns and temporary hearing loss.
The video then shows two adults entering the room after the shot when off. As a man, identified as Matthew Rivas, picks up the gun from the couch, it fires once more.
Rivas, was sentenced to 10 days in jail, 170 days of jail suspended, a $150 fine, and two years of probation after pleading guilty plea to two charges of negligent storage of a firearm and one count of child endangerment.