Indiana dad arrested after his toddler, wearing only a diaper, waves loaded gun
01/18/2023 2:34 pm PST
BEECH GROVE, Ind. (TCD) -- A 45-year-old man was taken into custody after his young child was seen on live TV waving a loaded gun around his apartment building.
According to WXIN-TV, on Saturday, Jan. 14, at approximately 4 p.m., Beech Grove Police were called out to an apartment complex about a child wandering with a gun. Ring video camera footage showed the boy, who was wearing only a diaper, walk back and forth pointing the firearm at different objects. At one point, he pointed the barrel at his face. The boy also reportedly pulled the trigger several times.
WXIN reports the gun was a semiautomatic 9 mm Smith and Wesson pistol that had 15 rounds in the magazine, though none were in the chamber.
Video shared by WTHR-TV shows the boy playing with the gun as well as his father, Shane Osborne, getting arrested.
The Indianapolis Star reports the boy holding the gun is 4 years old.
Osborne’s arrest was reportedly aired on the Reelz show "On Patrol: Live," and officers are seen searching through the apartment for the firearm, even though Osborne said he didn’t have one. Osborne, who spoke with police in his underwear, reportedly said he had been sick that day and did not even know his son walked out.
Beech Grove Police officers left the apartment because they didn’t find a gun in plain sight, but then a neighbor showed police footage of the child with the firearm. Police returned to the apartment and the 4-year-old child pointed officers to a desk, where the gun was hidden.
Indiana court case records show Osborne has been charged with dangerous control of a firearm and two counts of neglect of a dependent.
According to The Associated Press, Osborne was out on bail as he awaits sentencing for a domestic battery case. According to court records, a judge accepted his guilty plea Jan. 10, and he was scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 9.
Court documents cited by The Associated Press reportedly say Osborne "poses a direct threat to the welfare of his child, and his neighbors and their children, through his neglectful and careless actions."
MORE:
- Beech Grove man arrested after toddler with gun caught on camera, shown on live TV - WXIN
- Beech Grove father jailed after boy waves gun during 'On Patrol: Live,' records show - Indianapolis Star
- Beech Grove man charged after 4-year-old seen on live TV with a gun - WTHR
- Indiana man charged after son in diaper points gun at people - The Associated Press