ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – An Orange County man was arrested Thursday, months after his 3-year-old son took a gun from a backpack and shot himself in the chest, according to sheriff’s officials.
Timothy Sherry, 32, was taken into custody after the shooting, which happened on May 27, 2024.
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According to a charging affidavit, the boy took the gun from Sherry’s backpack and shot himself, but the bullet did not strike any vital organs. The affidavit stated that the child was expected to make a full recovery.
Sherry told deputies he usually keeps his firearm inside his vehicle and had brought it inside a backpack that day to leave in the guestroom, where he was staying. The affidavit said he was playing with the toddler in the master bedroom when he went to the bathroom to turn on the water in the tub and he heard a gunshot.
He walked out of the bedroom to check on the noise and saw the boy walking and crying, the affidavit said. Sherry checked the guest bedroom and saw the handgun on the floor and the safety was off, he told deputies.
Sherry and his wife checked the boy and saw a gunshot wound and called 911, deputies said. She told deputies she “understood that Timothy did not intentionally do anything” and that he would not intentionally harm their son, according to the affidavit.
Sherry faces a charge of culpable negligence by storing or leaving a loaded firearm within reach of a minor. He posted bond and was released from jail.