3-Year-Old Boy Fatally Shoots Himself in the Head After Finding Gun in Home

The North Carolina child was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead

When Police Officer Caitlin Figueroa arrived at the Charlotte, N.C., apartment Wednesday evening, she found a 3-year-old child bleeding from the head.

The little boy was still alive – she wrote in the incident report obtained by PEOPLE – but seriously injured with “an apparent gunshot wound to the head.”

Investigators believe the child accidentally shot himself with his mother’s unsecured gun, Mike Allinger, a spokesman for the Charlotte-Mecklenberg Police Department, tells PEOPLE.

Police have narrowed down the time of the shooting to within six minutes, around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to the incident report.

The child  – whose name has been withheld from the report because of his age – was rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, according to the department’s press release Wednesday night.

The 3-year-old was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.

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The mother was home with her son at the time of the shooting, according to Allinger, who notes that charges are pending in the case and could be filed as early as today.

North Carolina is one of 26 states with laws dealing with gun safety pertaining to child-access and/or secure storage, per Everytown for Gun Safety research.

Allinger confirms to PEOPLE that the state has such a law regarding children’s access to guns, which only goes into effect if the child actually obtains the firearm.

“A tragedy like this should wake us all up on understanding the importance of the responsibility we all have,” Major Bret Balamucki said at a press conference outside the apartment complex Wednesday night.

He added: “Wherever you think you may have hidden that weapon – if it’s loaded and it doesn’t have a lock on it that the child can’t defeat – then potentially they could gain access to it."

The investigation remains ongoing.

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