ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – A 10-year-old boy shot and killed himself Thursday after his mother “was addressing a behavioral issue” before school, police said.
Clearwater police spokesman Rob Shaw said Thursday afternoon that Ian Sevostjanov’s mother had sent him to his room that morning. According to a news release, the boy was sent to a room in his family’s apartment, where he obtained the gun.
Police are now investigating how the firearm was stored.
Ian, who was in fifth grade, died from a single shot. Paramedics tried to save him but he died in the family’s apartment.
His mother, Olga Grusetskaja, 50, was home when the shooting happened, police said.
The boy’s father and brother were not home.
The chief said the handgun was owned by someone in the apartment.
Slaughter also said detectives are interviewing family members, who are in distress.
The apartment complex is near downtown Clearwater, west of Tampa on the Gulf Coast.