'My heart shattered': Mom of 5-year-old who shot himself shares her side of the story
The mother of the 5-year-old boy who shot himself over the weekend said she was at work when it happened.The Omaha Police Department said the gun the 5-year-old got his hands on was unsecured in one of the bedrooms, adding that the doctors expect the child to fully recover.“When I first saw him, my heart shattered,” Gabriella Gutierrez, mom of the child who shot himself, said. “I could tell he was hurting, but he was trying to be a brave boy.”She said she was working Sunday when her fiancé called her with the news. She told KETV it was a through-and-through shot wound with no bullet fragments or broken bones.Gutierrez said she and her partner work tirelessly to support their family, with her working one job and her husband working two.“I love my kids so much. I miss them. That's all I want is my kids. I want my kids back,” Gutierrez said.Child Protective Services took her 5-year-old son and 7-month-old daughter after the shooting. Gutierrez is cited for misdemeanor child neglect, and her spouse, Trae Colvin, faces felony and misdemeanor child neglect charges.READ MORE: Omaha police arrest 28-year-old man after 5-year-old boy accidentally shoots himself“My whole world just crumbled beneath me,” she said. “All my safe spaces, everything that I’m always looking forward to, love every day, that motivates me to do better is now taken away from me.”She said they have a gun safe, but the Omaha Police Department said shootings involving children are “automatically higher” if guns are in the home.“Take the extra precautionary steps to keep that firearm out of their children's hands,” Neal Bonacci, OPD, said.Retired Douglas County Corrections Officer Brent Craft offers advice on gun safety.“It's highly recommended that when your gun is not on your person or your firearm is not on your person, that it's secured in either a floor safe, a wall safe, or a lockbox,” Craft said.He recommends keeping the firearm and ammunition in two separate places.Craft said if you want the gun in a place that’s more accessible, to “put a lock in the trigger guard, and then all you have to do is stick a key in that lock.”Craft said it's important to have conversations with your children early and expose them to guns if you plan to have one in your household.“I don't think five is too young. They're going to be curious,” Craft said. “They need to be exposed to it if there's going to be firearms in the home.”As for Gutierrez, she waits for CPS to call her about the status of her children.NAVIGATE: Home | Weather | Local News | National | Sports | Newscasts on demand |
