‘Nobody expects their 2-year-old to be shot,’ says family of toddler hospitalized after finding discarded gun

Click here for updates on this story

    LAS VEGAS, Nevada (KVVU) — The family of a toddler who accidentally shot herself after finding a discarded gun on a preschool playground says her condition is slowly improving.

“I mean, nobody expects their two-year-old to be shot, this was completely a senseless act,” Tawnya Rosenthal, a family friend, said.

Ava, 2, was rushed to UMC last Friday morning after the shooting near Nellis Boulevard and Owens Avenue.

“Ava is currently waiting to see if they are going to do another surgery. They found a blood clot in her lungs, and so they are watching that to see if they are going to need to do surgery,” she said.

Rosenthal says the toddler shot herself in the chest.

“She was shot three centimeters from her heart. It completely punctured one of the lobes of her lung, so it is definitely a rough and rocky procedure. They have had to put her in a medically induced coma,” she added.

Metro police say it all started when the teenage suspect got into a fight with an adult on a city bus. The teen then pulled out a gun and shot the adult, who was taken to UMC.

While running from the scene, the teen jumped a wall at a nearby preschool and dropped the loaded gun in the school’s playground area before taking off.

“I was shaken up, because it easily could have been my son,” said Amanda Palacios, who has a toddler enrolled at the school.

Palacios said she was nervous about her son returning to school on Monday.

“I was scared to bring my child, naturally. I wanted to keep him home, but knew I had to bring him to get him back into a routine, and get myself into a routine, but I’ve called and checked on him, and they’ve been great letting me know that he’s okay, he’s doing good,” she added.

She says the staff responded well to the incident.

“It could happen anywhere. It could’ve happened at my school, it could’ve happened with us walking into a store,” she said.

Ava’s family is asking for the public’s help to pay for medical expenses.

“They are emotional, but they are a strong and resilient people, their main concern right now is of course financially, because they are going to be here for weeks, if not months, while she is being treated and cared for,” Rosenthal said.

The teen suspect was booked into Clark County Juvenile Detention Center.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.