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Single Mom of Three

The police had my 70-pound son in a seated restraint, with no use of his hands, arms, legs. The 200-plus-pound officer had a gun in a holster on his hip, which went off unexpectedly. The gun was pressed up against my son’s leg and left a friction burn. The bullet landed less than two feet from all of my three young children. My home became a crime scene, and we were denied access for days.

Unsurprisingly the town found itself, the gun and the officer innocent after investigating themselves. No changes have been made as a result of this incident. Any or all of my children could have died that day. We now naturally have a distrust of law enforcement. My son still talks about the gun going off and it’s been 1.5 years and constant therapy at a school designed to cater to trauma. My other children didn’t even want to attend school afterward, as they were so scared still. This event has injured my family deeply.

Reacting shows support for gun violence survivors.