An Illinois toddler accidentally shot himself dead at home after finding his dad's loaded gun in the living room, police say.
Emergency services were called to the scene in the city of Joliet at about 9:30am on Wednesday (local time).
At the scene, they found a two-year-old boy with a gunshot wound to the head, AP reported.
The boy was rushed to the nearest medical centre where he later died, after what was described by Joliet police as an accident.
An investigation is continuing but police confirmed the firearm was owned legally. It's unclear why the father, who was home at the time, left the gun unattended.
Police Lieutenant Joe Egizio urged people to be aware of where they place their guns.
"I can attest as a parent, with my colleagues up here - things can go bad in a split-second," he said of the incident, as reported by AP.
The death follows another incident in October in which a three-year-old boy accidentally shot himself dead in Texas after finding a pistol that had fallen out of a relative's pocket.
According to the US Gun Violence Archive, 126 children aged zero to 11 have died of gunshots in the United States so far this year.
