A 4-year-old fatally shot his little brother in Minnesota. The gun owner has been criminally charged

WELCOME, Minn. (AP) — A Minnesota man has been charged with manslaughter and child endangerment after a 4-year-old boy picked up the man’s handgun and accidentally shot and killed his 2-year-old brother.

Colton Mammenga, 33, of the southern Minnesota town of Welcome, was charged Thursday, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.

The shooting happened Oct. 15 as Mammenga was in a moving pickup truck with the two boys and their mother, who was in a relationship with Mammenga. A criminal complaint said a Martin County deputy pulled the truck over to the shoulder of a road and Mammenga got out holding the injured child, Matthew Alshaikhnasser.

The boy had a head wound and died two days later at a hospital.

The charges say the 4-year-old told a deputy he got the gun from the front seat when the boys were left alone while Mammenga and the mother went inside to get something.

Mammenga did not immediately return a call seeking comment, and online court records don’t list an attorney for him. In a brief interview with the Star Tribune, the mother said, “We are still in mourning. This was a pure freak accident. We love our Mattie.”