Police: San Bernardino Mother Veronica Pyatt, Son Arrested After Accidental Shooting Hits Baby Sister In Leg
SAN BERNARDINO (CBSLA) — A San Bernardino mother and her 14-year-old son face several felony charges after a loaded firearm went off, wounding her 20-month-old daughter.
Veronica Pyatt, 37, was arrested Tuesday, along with her teenage son, who police did not identify because he is a minor, after hospital officials reported to police they were treating her toddler for a gunshot wound to the leg.
Police say the teenager had been "manipulating a loaded firearm" in the backseat of their vehicle as Pyatt was driving home from a grocery run. The firearm discharged, and a single round hit his sister in the right upper leg.
The teen told his mother the gun went off, but police say she kept driving home and she claimed she did not know her daughter had been shot. Once at home, the teenager got out of the car with the toddler, and set about throwing the firearm and other evidence in the trash while his mother unloaded groceries, according to police. Investigators say Pyatt did not try to remove the gun from the son, did not check her children for injuries, and did not report the shooting to police.
Eventually, the teen told his mother his sister had been shot, and Pyatt then took the child to Community Hospital of San Bernardino, where hospital officials called police. The girl was later taken to Loma Linda University Medical Center to be treated for the non-life threatening injury.
Pyatt was arrested on suspicion of child abuse, and is being held on $100,000 and is scheduled to appear in court Thursday. Her son was booked into a San Bernardino County Juvenile detention center.
Child and Family Services are conducting their own investigation into the incident. Anyone with information about the shooting can contact Detective N. Alvarez of the Specialized Crimes Bureau via email at alvarez_ni@sbcity.org, or Sgt. M. Hysen at hysen_ma@sbcity.org.
