Thomas Noel Pauza-Moore was 3 years old when he died on August 8, 2023, after a single gunshot wound inside his Hinckley, Minnesota, home. The boy had been sent to his father’s bedroom to fetch a phone charger and there discovered a loaded 9mm handgun left unsecured on top of a gun safe. He was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after 9:00 p.m.

Investigators reported multiple firearms in the residence that were not properly secured: besides the handgun that fired, an AR-15-style rifle and a loaded shotgun were found at floor level in an open closet in the father’s bedroom, within reach of a child. Thomas’s mother had separated from the father months earlier and told police she had warned him previously about locking up his guns.

The boy’s father, Roy Dean Pauza-Moore, then 26, was arrested on counts including second-degree manslaughter, child endangerment by firearm access, and negligent storage of a firearm; he later pleaded guilty to felony child endangerment and received five months in jail and five years of probation. Does anyone have information about safety steps families in the area used to secure firearms that could help prevent similar tragedies?