Iowa City man sentenced to 12 years in prison after 3-year-old fatally shot self with gun
An Iowa City man has been sentenced to more than 10 years in prison after his stolen handgun accidentally discharged, killing a three-year-old in 2022.
Chris Gordon, 34, pleaded guilty to federal charges of felony possession of a firearm and ammunition following a pair of incidents during the summer of 2022.
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Child "accidentally" discharged weapon
According to court documents and an interview with a witness, Gordon had a "stolen, loaded" Ruger LCP handgun in his possession on July 3, 2022.
That day, around noon, the 3-year-old child got out of bed at an apartment, found Gordon's pistol and "fatally shot himself," according to a release. Documents show that the gunshot appeared to "accidentally discharge" while the child was "handling the pistol."
The gunshot woke the child's mother and Gordon. They found the child in the hallway with a gunshot wound to the left eye. The pistol was lying on the floor next to the child near the child's hand, court documents said.
Gordon then grabbed the stolen pistol and "ran" from the Boston Way apartment "before officers or an ambulance arrived," according to court documents, toward 2nd Street. He eventually tossed the pistol onto the Caribou Coffee roof.
Police did not immediately recover the weapon. Caribou Coffee employees spotted the gun on the roof on Aug. 17, 2022 and notified the police.
The weapon's serial number had been "scratched off," according to a news release.
Gordon found with another loaded pistol
A few weeks later on July 24, 2022, Gordon was arrested for having a "loaded Polymer 80, 9mm caliber firearm with a loaded extended magazine" during a traffic stop. Gordon was a passenger in the vehicle where authorities found the gun, which was not used in the accidental shooting, stashed in the third-row seating.
Gordon "knew" the pistol was in the backseat area and said he had handled it, according to the plea deal.
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Gordon's prior history barred him from owning a weapon
Two previous felony convictions prevent Gordon from owning a firearm. He was convicted for unlawful use of a firearm in 2009 and 2014 in Cook County, Illinois.
Gordon was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison on April 17 and will face an additional three years of supervised release once his term ends.
Ryan Hansen covers local government and crime for the Press-Citizen. He can be reached at [email protected] or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ryanhansen01.
This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Iowa City man gets prison sentence after child fatally shoots self