Jaime Gilt, an obviously Floridian, gun-regulation-hating, 31-year-old mother, was shot in the back while driving. Her 4-year-old son whom she'd been training as a child marksman is reported to have shot her. Ms. Gilt's pistol–which was apparently ready to fire live ammunition–slid out of her purse and into her son's hands, where he put it to immediate use.
Police have cleared the child of malice, but an investigation determined the mother was negligent because she failure to secure her gun. She faces up to 180 days of jail time.
Via the Putnam County's Police Facebook page:
Putnam County Sheriff's Office
Press Conference
March 22, 2016
Captain Gator DeLoach
As most of you know at around 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 8, 2016, Jamie Gilt was traveling from Jacksonville to a residence in Putnam County to pick up a horse. As Jamie was traveling west on State Road 20, she was preparing to make a u-turn which would ultimately lead her to her destination. While she was waiting for a break in traffic, she felt something strike her in the back, then noticed the windshield of her truck was broken. Seconds later, Jamie began to bleed from her chest. Realizing she had been shot, She called her cousin, who was nearby. At that same time, Jamie saw a patrol car approaching her. Jamie flashed her lights and attempted to wave the deputy down. Deputy Wayne Jones saw Jamie's truck and recognized there was a problem. Once he approached Jaime, he could tell she was in distress. Jamie told the deputy she had been shot by her son. Deputy Jones made sure Gilt's son was not injured, secured the handgun which he found in the rear floorboard, called for assistance, and began rendering aid to Gilt until EMS arrived.
The investigation revealed that Jamie placed the gun, which was not in a holster, under the front seat of the truck. Sometime during her drive the gun apparently slid back to the rear floorboard, below where her four year old son was seated in a booster seat. According to family members, the child recently learned to unbuckle his seatbelt. Investigators discovered the child removed himself from the seat, presumably to grab a toy from the floorboard, saw the gun, picked it up and accidentally fired through the rear of the driver seat, striking Jamie. The bullet struck her in the back and exited through her chest.
The Florida Department of Children and Family services was notified by the Sheriff's Office and assigned an investigator to follow up on the case.
A copy of this investigation, along with an affidavit charging Gilt with a violation of Florida Statutes regarding the safe storage of firearms is being forwarded to the State Attorney's Office for review.
The Putnam County Sheriff's Office supports the rights of citizens to own and possess firearms. I do want to remind everyone that in the presence of a child, gun owners bear the additional responsibility of ensuring children do not gain unintended access of a firearm, in hopes of preventing tragedies like this in the future.
