4-Year-Old Fatally Shot By Woman Who Was Teaching Her 'Firearm Safety,' Authorities Say

were being punished that morning by Runions for not waking up the women and for eating Daniels’ food without permission

Any time a young child is in trouble for eating someone's food, it is a huge red flag.

Any time a child is responsible for an adult's schedule, it is a huge red flag.

This article is about child abuse that lead to murder.

Tragic

Runions pressed the barrel of the gun against the child’s chest and pulled the trigger, police said she told them.

Daniels told police that she saw Runions take out the gun, remove its magazine and put it to Evangaline’s chest, but she turned away and didn’t see her pull the trigger, according to the warrant.

This was a murder.

Look, I'm one of the first to say Americans are dangerously obsessed with firearms, but this wasn't a firearms issue - it was straight up murder. This wasn't an attempt to teach with any sort of responsibility or following any safety at all. If anyone tried to teach my kids firearm safety by sticking the barrel in their chest they would be decked.

First rule - every firearm is loaded. Every. Fucking. Firearm. Is. Loaded.

temporary custody

Why is it next to impossible for people to get approved to adopt, but any asshole can become a foster parent? I think you need more in-depth screenings to adopt from pet rescues. If the US is going to force pregnancy on people, then they really need to get a handle on the foster system. Because it's always about "protecting the children," right?

Just another reason why not every idiot and his uncle should be allowed to own a firearm.

For people who, like me, saw the gap between "teaching firearm safety" and first degree murder, the method outlined in the article for teaching firearm safety seemed to involve putting the barrel of the gun to the child's chest and pulling the trigger. The witness, the other child living in the home, says that the killer did pull the magazine before the 'safety lesson' though. Technically this might make premeditation difficult to prove and could hinder a first degree murder conviction but I also think that a jury will figure out some way to make this monster go away forever regardless of what the letter of the law says.

This is reason #9,278 why conservatives should not be allowed near children.

There is a serious issue with child abuse here.

But, if you can correctly guess the country where this occurred before reading the locale in the article, then it's a telling point about how famous the idiots+guns connection is in exactly one affluent country while still being a tangent.

Do not begrudge getting older...so few get the opportunity.

4 year old wiped off this world because a 25 year old woman shot her in an attempt to intimidate and scare her. there was no firearms safety class being taught; if my mother wanted to "show me something" it was always to rub my nose in the proverbial piss of some mistake i had made in her eyes. That is what i see here for this "gun class"

Very upsetting story. This young girl was failed by every adult in her life.

Every gun owner thinks they're a responsible gun owner.

You wanna teach firearm safety to a four year old, keep your guns safely locked up and practice using a hose pipe. If that murderer beams you with the hose, don't let them have your gloc because they gunna Bury you.

These fucking backward degenerates should not be allowed to touch guns.

The 7-year-old girl told authorities that she saw Runions shoot Evangaline and said the bullet struck a glass bottle, sending shards her way, according to the warrant.

It's even crueler for the child that witnessed the murder. At least the girl who was killed doesn't have to continue to suffer. The 7-year-old who had to see it is old enough to remember that trauma for fucking forever. She's going to need so much therapy to overcome this incident and our system won't provide it for free.

Fuck anyone who brings out a gun around children.

what a piece of shit headline. the girl was being punished or the lady was trying to scare her and the gun went off. the 7 year old said that they were being punished for waking someone up and eating food?! this is probably a foster parent situation. I sure as fuck hope that 7 year old is placed in a new home!

showing someone gun safety is the killers excuse, thats not what happened here at all.

AND FUCKING 4 YEAR OLDS CANT EVEN TIE THEIR SHOES! WHY WOULD YOU GIVE THEM GUN SAFETY?

FUCKING HORRIBLE

Everyone is a responsible gun owner until they aren’t.

The gun safety lesson here being "see what happens when two meth heads with children in the house are allowed to have a gun"...

This was a murder, plain and simple. She put a gun up to the girl's chest and pulled the trigger.

Was gonna come in here to say "The first rule of gun safety is your gun is always loaded, even if you cleared it and the safety is on, so barrels don't get pointed at anything you don't want to die".

This still applies here, but the situation had nothing to do with teaching a kid. Now that kid is dead. So fucked...

It is too easy to get a driver's license in the US and sure is hell way too easy to get a gun. Some people can't be trusted with a toothbrush.

According to a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation arrest warrant obtained by HuffPost, Runions told police that she had taken a 9 mm handgun out of its case, removed the magazine and called Evangaline over to “show her firearm safety.” Runions pressed the barrel of the gun against the child’s chest and pulled the trigger, police said she told them. Daniels told police that she saw Runions take out the gun, remove its magazine and put it to Evangaline’s chest, but she turned away and didn’t see her pull the trigger, according to the warrant. The 7-year-old girl told authorities that she saw Runions shoot Evangaline and said the bullet struck a glass bottle, sending shards her way, according to the warrant.

wtf

As a parent, EVERY kid feels like your kid. This made me cry.

The US is seriously self-destructing in so many ways.

I consider myself a liberal gun nut. What the hell are we doing teaching kids that young to shoot? Was she a particular mature 4 year old? I doubt she has the attention span or critical thinking required to safely operate a firearm.

I blame the parents first and the crappy firearms instructor second. The parents are the one who thought this person was qualified and didn’t do their due diligence. The kid was innocent in all of this and died for no good reason.

I learned gun safety at 6, on a bb gun, killed my first deer at 10. Trying to teach a 4 year old who probably isnt even sentient at this point on a real loaded firearm is the stupidest thing you can do. Firearms safety isnt a hard thing to teach, it should be taught in schools along with the home imo. Shooting sports used to be a big part of the american school system.

Ironic...

Many of the comments in this thread are sickening. A child was blatantly murdered and the headline is bullshit, there is no mention of firearm safety training whatsoever. She literally pressed a firearm against a child's chest and pulled the trigger after she abused them for not doing something young children should have to do.

If you can somehow screech out "muh conservatives shouldn't have gunz!" then you didn't even read this shit or you are dickbrained. Nothing about this woman speaks conservative and some of it is contrary to that claim if anything.

Mean while kids getting shot everyday in strict gun law Chicago and no one cares. Accidents happen. Kids die taking swimming lessons. Statistically this is a non issue.