Lori Grisham

USA TODAY Network

A 2-year-old boy may have accidentally shot and killed his father in Hoover, Ala., according to police.

The child's mother returned home after work Tuesday around 3 p.m. to find Divine Vaniah Chambliss, 31, unresponsive with a gunshot wound to his head, Hoover Police Department said in a statement. The apartment was locked and the only people there were Chambliss and his two-year-old son, the statement said.

Police are waiting on an official coroner report before they can conclusively rule it an accident, but their initial investigation found no reason to think a third party was involved, Hoover Police Capt. Gregg Rector told USA TODAY Network. And physical evidence does not indicate a suicide, he said.

"Our expectations are that this will be ruled an accidental shooting," Rector said. There was a semiautomatic handgun in the apartment that belonged to the deceased, according to Rector. Chambliss appears to have been killed while sleeping, he said.

The toddler's mother lived in the apartment with her two children, both fathered by Chambliss. Chambliss would regularly come over and watch the children for her, according to the AP.

Rector said it's completely possible that a 2-year-old child could fire a gun.

"It’s not that big of a physical obstacle for a kid that young to pull a trigger," Rector said. "There’s numerous examples out there of kids as young as two that have fired a gun and shot themselves and shot others."

While people talk about locking up guns and keeping them out of reach, not everyone actually practices that, Rector said.

"It’s a reminder of how tragic of an event can happen if you leave guns within reaching distance of kids," he said.

Contributing: The Associated Press

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