PRICHARD, Alabama – Police have identified the 4-year-old boy who accidentally shot and killed himself Easter Sunday at a home on South Fairport Drive in Gulf Village. Prichard police spokesman Robert Buchanan on Monday identified the victim as Roderick Paige, of Plaza Court in Mobile.

Buchanan said the toddler’s death was reported to police by the emergency room staff at USA Children's and Women's Hospital where the child was taken and pronounced dead due to a gunshot wound to the chest. The time of the shooting has not been confirmed, he said, but the child’s parents were being questioned by Prichard police on Monday morning. The police report was filed at 3:36 p.m. Sunday, Buchanan said.

Upon responding to the hospital’s call Sunday, officers spoke to the child's father, mother and aunt and then went with the aunt back to the scene of the shooting, where the unidentified weapon was recovered, he said. WKRG-TV reported Sunday that the family “had just come from Easter Services at church and were visiting with family when the accident happened,” although Buchanan could not confirm those details.

An investigation into the child's death is ongoing.

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This post was updated to include the victim's name and address.

