Mom unloads groceries after toddler is shot, saying she didn’t know, California cops say

A mother and her 14-year-old son were arrested after California police said he accidentally shot his sibling.

San Bernardino police said that Veronica Pyatt was driving on Tuesday with her son and 20-month-old daughter in the back seat of the car, according to a news release.

Pyatt’s teenage son was “manipulating a loaded firearm” when it went off and shot his half-sibling in the leg, authorities said.

Although Pyatt’s son told her that the gun went off, she drove to their house and didn’t know that her daughter had been shot, officials said.

Pyatt was unloading groceries while the teen got out of the car with the toddler and disposed of the gun “and other evidence” by putting it in the trash, according to police. Pyatt “never attempted to remove the gun” from her son or “physically examine her children,” authorities said.

Pyatt’s son told her that his sister had been shot once they were in the house and Pyatt took her daughter to the Community Hospital of San Bernardino, where she was treated for her injuries, police said. Hospital staff alerted police and the toddler was taken to Loma Linda University Medical Center “with non-life-threatening injuries,” according to officials.

Pyatt and her 14-year-old son were arrested on felony charges, police said. Pyatt was booked into a local detention center, while her son was booked into a San Bernardino County Juvenile detention center.

The incident has been turned over to the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office, and Child and Family Services are also investigating the case, according to authorities.

This story was originally published July 22, 2021 at 2:03 PM with the headline "Mom unloads groceries after toddler is shot, saying she didn’t know, California cops say."