A two-year-old Portage girl is dead, after police say she shot herself with a gun she found in her home. The Times reports it happened at the Oak Tree Village mobile home park Tuesday morning.
Police say Grace Rodriguez "was able to gain access to a family-owned firearm" and then discharged "a single round, striking herself." She was taken to the hospital and then flown to an Illinois trauma center, where she died Tuesday evening.
Portage Fire Chief Randy Wilkening was visibly emotional when discussing the day's events with the city council that night. "This job comes with an emotional price. And I'm sure everyone's been hearing about all of the problems with mental health in the country, and it seems like emergency responders get hit even harder because we have to see people on the worst day of their lives. And we had a bad one today," Wilkening said.
He said two of his firefighters recently completed peer support training, which they put into use.
