Child fires a loaded gun hidden under a sofa at an IKEA store in US city

In a freak incident, a child fired a gunshot at around 2pm on Monday at the Fishers IKEA store in US state of Indiana.

The police authorities got into action immediately and their investigation led them to the reasons as to why such an incident took place, and how the child got hold of a gun.

As per a report by CBS4, the law enforcement authorities said that a customer sat down on a couch with the intention to test it, however, ended up with his gun dislodged from his pants. Without realising, what had happened, he continued shopping.

Meanwhile, some kids discovered the gun and one of them pulled the trigger. The shot was fired, leading to a frenzy in the store, however, no one was injured or hurt. In fact, the store stayed open even after the incident.

The police managed to question some witnesses and Fishers Police Sgt. Tom Weger stressed on the importance of responsible gun ownership. “It’s important to remember that if you are going to carry a firearm on your person, that you make sure you’re under control of it at all times.” he said.

IKEA also issued an official statement:

“We take this incident very seriously and we have offered the family of the child involved our sincerest apologies. Safety and security of customers and co-workers is the top priority for IKEA. We have processes in place to ensure that the store is safe for customers and co-workers. As soon as we were made aware of the situation, our co-workers took the action they were trained to do to ensure the safety of customers. We are cooperating with police as they investigate this incident.”

The gun owner facing any legal action for this incident is another point of concern. Gun expert and attorney Guy Relford said as per the report, "Perhaps the closest charge the gun’s owner could receive is criminal recklessness. It can be about civil liability, but that alone doesn’t result in criminal culpability.”

Indiana is rated as one of the worst states when it's about children accidentally getting a hold of guns. According to a 2016 report, Indiana was at the 7th spot in the country with regards to accidental shootings that involve children.