3 year old girl mistakes real gun for that of a game console, kills herself

A girl aged three fatally shot herself in the stomach, investigators believe she thought the handgun was a Nintendo Wii control.

Her stepfather, Douglas Cronberger, and her mother, Tina Ann Cronberger, both 32 , were inside their rural home in Norene, Tennessee when the accident occurred, Wilson County Sheriff Terry Ashe says.

Ashe pointed out that Cronberger had taken the usually unloaded gun from a cabinet and loaded  it to go look for what he thought was a prowler. Afterward, he put the gun on an end table in the living room and forgot about it.

Displaying the gun alongside the Wii controller, Ashe said: “You can see by the comparison of the toy weapon and the real weapon that there’s little chance a three-year-old would differentiate between the two.

“‘If you have a live handgun with a toy that looks the same – for parents some bells and whistles need to go off.”

There has been no decision if any charges will be filed against the child’s parents at this stage.