Sheriff: Gun that shot Georgia toddler on Christmas left on nightstand night before

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn — The gun that left a Rock Spring toddler in intensive care on Christmas Day was left on a nightstand by a father the night before, Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson revealed on Friday.

The child survived surgery on Christmas and is now in critical condition.

Sheriff Wilson provided new details about what happened in his news release on Friday.

That includes the fact that the father had returned to his home on Tarvin Road late on Christmas Eve and had put his 9mm handgun on a nightstand beside the bed.

On Christmas morning, after the children were out of bed and as the father was in another room putting clothes on an infant, Sheriff Wilson says he heard a ‘pop’ noise from his bedroom.

He rushed to the room to find the 2-year-old child crying and bleeding from a gunshot wound to the head.

Deputies and EMS crews rushed to the scene and raced the child to an operating table for surgery at a hospital in Chattanooga. File photo: Getty Images.

Deputies and EMS crews rushed to the scene and raced the child to an operating table for surgery at a hospital in Chattanooga.

Read our earlier story: 2-year-old child shot Christmas morning in northwest Georgia; GBI investigating

Since the incident, the infant child the father was tending is now with relatives, Sheriff Wilson says.

Authorities have not yet said exactly how the gun fired.

Sheriff Wilson’s releases on this tragic incident have been carefully worded, an indication the investigation remains active and those questions are still being examined.

As of Friday, no one faces any charges.

The fact that the shooting happened on Christmas Day added another layer of weight for first responders who answered the call.{ } File photo: WTVC

The fact that the shooting happened on Christmas Day added another layer of weight for first responders who answered the call.

In a Christmas Day interview, a Hamilton County EMS official told us calls involving children are always tough to take, but calls on holidays like Christmas cut deeper, and linger longer after their shifts end.

Watch Ray Collado’s report here.

Depend on us to keep you posted on the child’s condition and this investigation.