On the evening of February 7, 2020, four-year-old Lincoln Cooper Mack of Browns Mills, New Jersey, died from a gunshot wound to his cheek. Emergency responders found Lincoln in the family home on Maricopa Trail; he was taken to a nearby emergency room and pronounced dead.

Investigators from the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office and the Pemberton Township Police Department determined that Lincoln’s father, 31-year-old Andrew Mack, had been asleep with a loaded 9mm handgun unsecured on the bed beside him. Lincoln reportedly found the firearm, took it to another room where he was playing with his younger sister, and the gun discharged.

Andrew Mack was arrested and charged with endangering the welfare of a child and improperly storing a weapon where minors could access it. Authorities called the death an unspeakable, entirely preventable tragedy.

If anyone knew Lincoln or has information that could shed more light on how this happened, please share what you know.