Accidental Shooting Leaves Mother Dead, Sends Youngest Child To Hospital

Tragedy struck a North Carolina family when an accidental shooting ended the life of a young mother and sent one of her children to the hospital. According to Cornelius police, 25-year-old Gabriel Alexis Henderson was killed Monday (February 15) after her children accidentally discharged a gun they had found in her purse.

Police responded to reports of a shooting at a Cornelius apartment complex around 7 p.m. Monday, WSOC reports. When they arrived at the residence at Cornelius Village Apartments, located on Meridian Street near Catawba Avenue, they found Henderson in the back bedroom where she was pronounced dead by Medic. A small semi-automatic handgun was found next to her on the bed.

An initial investigation revealed that the only people home at the time of the shooting were Henderson and her five children. Four of the kids were in the room when the shooting occurred, while her oldest child was in another room.

According to the news outlet, detectives believe one of Henderson's children found the firearm in her purse before it somehow went off. The shooting ultimately killed Henderson and injured her youngest child, who was taken by Medic to Atrium Main in Charlotte with non-life threatening injuries.

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