3-Year-Old Colorado Boy Dies From Accidental Gunshot To Head

A 3-year-old Colorado boy has died after what authorities say was "an accidental gunshot wound to the head."

Police in Frederick, Colo., a town about 30 miles north of Denver, said Tuesday that the boy has been identified as Sheine Steine, according to the Longmont Times-Call.

"We have no reason to believe this was other than an accidental firing of the gun while the child handled it," Frederick Police Chief Gary Barbour said in a statement.

Police arrived at the boy's home Monday morning around 10 a.m. after Steine's mother Dione Warren found him on the ground, not breathing and bleeding from the head. Despite the amount of blood, Warren told 911 she thought the boy had fallen and struck his head on a bedside table. According to 7News, police found the preschooler's body next to his mother's bed and a semiautomatic handgun next to his head.

Police said that the bullet had ricocheted off the wall, leaving blood spatter evidence behind, and then landed on the bed where it was found.

The boy was rushed to Exempla Good Samaritan Medical Center in Lafayette Monday morning, but was pronounced dead at 11:15 a.m..

KDVR reports that the gun, a .40-caliber Glock, was legally owned by the boy's stepfather, identified as Jeremy McCollem, who was not at home during the shooting.

According to Denver's CBS affiliate, the shooting remains under investigation, with authorities still determining who shot the gun and if the gun was locked up.