A pregnant woman and her unborn child died after a toddler grabbed a gun and shot her in the back last week, police in Ohio said.
Laura Ilg, 31, called 911 Friday afternoon and told the dispatcher she was 33 weeks pregnant and had been shot by her 2-year-old son, Norwalk police said in a statement.
Her husband, Alek, reported moments later that he had received a call from his wife who was screaming for him to call the police.
Ilg can be heard frantically calling for help in the audio of the 911 call released by police.
“I’m upstairs. I need help,” he tells the dispatcher.
“Is your front door open?” the dispatcher asks.
“Tell them to come in, please hurry,” she pleads before screaming.
Officers arrived at 1:14 p.m., three minutes after receiving their first call, and forced entry into the home. He told officers what happened while they were rendering aid, police said.
“Laura was transported to Fisher Titus Medical Center, where an emergency C-section took place,” police said.
Their unborn child was pronounced dead less than an hour after the 911 call, and Ilg was pronounced dead at 5:10 p.m., police said.
Officers took possession of the weapon, a SIG Sauer P365, along with a shell casing and loaded magazine. Ilg and her husband told authorities the gun was kept on a nightstand in their bedroom. A 12-gauge shotgun and an airsoft rifle were also in the home, police said.
No charges have been filed. Police said the findings of the investigation will be forwarded to the local prosecutor’s office.
In an interview with Cleveland’s WOIO-TVNorwalk Police Chief David Smith said that while the home had many child safety features, many of the doors were often left open.
“The gun was left outside, but it shouldn’t have been accessible to the child,” Smith said. “Apparently she didn’t know he was in the room at the time.”
