Seven-year-old boy shoots himself in the head after finding a loaded gun under a hoverboard

On Wednesday afternoon, police officers were dispatched to a Plymouth, Minneapolis home, after receiving a call about an individual suffering head trauma, WCCO reported. When they got there they found a 7-year-old boy bleeding from the head. First responders tried to give the boy CPR, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

A preliminary investigation revealed that Keyaris Samuels, a 1st grader at Wayzata Public Schools, had found the loaded weapon in an unsecured box, beneath a new hovercraft. Police presume the boy had thought the gun was a toy because it was in a box with another toy.

In a somber press conference this morning, Plymouth Police Chief Mike Goldstein expressed his condolences to the family while emphasizing that the boy's death was utterly preventable.

"This entire incident should never have occurred," he said. "No one should have died, including a young, innocent child. No officers or EMS personal should have had to witness that scene."

The investigation is still ongoing, but one thing is clear. "What we know for sure though is that an irresponsible gun  owner left the loaded firearm unsecured with easy access to four children who reside in the home," Goldstein said. "Again, this entire tragedy could have, and should have, been avoided. I am so sad for this family."

According to the gun control advocacy group Everytown USA, more than 2 million American kids live in homes with unsecured guns.