A three-year-old girl in Omaha, Nebraska, accidentally shot herself in the face with her father’s firearm, which she found under a couch cushion, as reported in court documents. Omaha Police arrived at the scene at 1:46 p.m. on Saturday, April 19, 2025, and declared the child deceased.

The girl’s father, Phuc Le, 44, was detained and initially released on his own recognizance, with a court hearing set for May 6. However, before that date, Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine filed a motion to move the case directly to district court, which a judge approved. As a result, Le’s case was transferred from the county court to the district court, and he is now being held on a $25,000 bond.

The incident occurred while the mother and three of the girl’s siblings were home. The Omaha Police Department’s Child Special Victims Unit is investigating, and court documents reveal concerning details about how firearms were stored in the household.

According to court records, the girl’s eight-year-old sibling informed police that the gun was often left out when their father was absent. The child mentioned that Le typically stored the firearm under a pillow in the basement, where he slept, and had seen it on the couch or a side table frequently.

The mother admitted to officers that she knew Le often kept the gun under a couch cushion while he slept on it in the basement at night.

The eight-year-old recounted that on Saturday afternoon, the three-year-old found the gun under a couch cushion. The older sibling took it away and returned it to its place. However, records indicate the younger child was fatally shot in the face when she picked up the gun again while the older sibling tried to remove it.

Le told police he had placed the gun under the couch cushion before leaving for work around 11 a.m. Investigators found documents indicating he admitted to not securing the weapon in the large safe located in the basement, despite claiming he usually stored it there.

He maintained that the gun’s chamber was always empty and that he never left the ammunition clip inserted. However, records show Le could not explain how the gun was loaded or why it wasn’t in the safe.

The court affidavit mentions that Le provided police with the combination to his safe, where officers found three rifles and a small quantity of cocaine. Le admitted to using some of the drugs before leaving for work on the morning of the shooting, claiming he was holding them for a friend. He also agreed to allow police to store the firearms at the police department.

This case highlights a nationwide issue of child access to firearms. According to the Children’s Safety Network, one in three homes with children has firearms, and 22 million children live in homes with firearms. While most firearms are locked or stored unloaded, 2.6 million children (12%) live in homes with unlocked, loaded firearms or firearms stored with ammunition.

Research indicates many children can locate and handle firearms in the home without parental knowledge. Three out of four children aged five to 14 know where firearms are hidden, and one in three in this age group has handled a firearm. Even children as young as three can be strong enough to pull a handgun’s trigger.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) notes that firearms are now the leading cause of death for children and teens in the United States. The organization advises that the best way to protect children from gun violence is to remove guns from the home. If guns are kept, they should be stored unloaded, locked, and with ammunition stored separately.

Recent research from Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions found that child access prevention (CAP) firearm storage policies effectively reduce youth gun suicide rates, as well as firearm-related unintentional injuries and homicides. As of January 2025, 27 states and Washington, D.C. have CAP or safe storage laws.

The policies are most effective when requiring parents or guardians to store firearms unloaded and locked for children aged 16 and younger. Researchers examined mortality data from 1990 to 2020 and found that CAP laws reduced suicide rates by up to 14%.

Currently, 24 states have adopted secure storage or child access prevention policies, while 26 have not. These laws typically apply when the firearm is not under the immediate control of the owner and define a “child” as someone under 18, with some variations.

Nebraska, where this incident occurred, does have child access prevention laws, though specific requirements vary across states. Most state laws do not mandate storage to prevent access by other prohibited individuals, such as felons or domestic abusers.

Experts advise responsible gun ownership to include seeking firearms training, practicing regularly, properly storing firearms to prevent unauthorized access (especially by children), recognizing gun owners represent the broader community, purchasing high-quality firearms and equipment, and maintaining firearms to ensure proper function.