Handgun (illustrative)
Handgun (illustrative)Israel news photo: Flash 90

A two-year-old child shot and killed himself with a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun in Texas Wednesday. Child Protective Services has taken custody of the other children who were living in the home in Cherokee County where the accident happened.

According to KLTV.com, two-year-old Trenton Mathis was pronounced dead on Wednesday afternoon at a hospital in Tyler, after the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office said he shot himself in the face.

According to the toddler's great-grandmother, Carolyn Mathis, Trenton went into his great-grandparent's bedroom, looking for gum. Carolyn said Trenton's great-grandfather left his handgun on the nightstand, but he thought he had closed and locked the door. Trenton was able to go into the bedroom, and then he climbed onto the bed and searched the nightstand looking for gum. Instead, he found the handgun.

CPS said late last year, four children, one of whom was Trenton, were removed from their parents' home in Harris County because of abuse and neglect. Three of those children, including Trenton, a ten-month-old and a five-year-old, were placed with their great-grandparents in a home near Bullard.

CPS said they had felt the great-grandparents' home was not safe for the children, but a judge ruled against the CPS recommendation and placed the three children with their biological great-grandparents.