4-Year-Old Kills Deputy's Wife

A family cookout turned tragic Saturday, when a 4-year-old shot and killed a Tennessee sheriff's deputy's wife—apparently accidentally, police say. Josephine Fanning's young nephew entered a bedroom where her husband was showing guns to another relative, reports NewsChannel5. The boy took a gun from the bed and fired a single shot, killing Fanning, 48, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says. The sheriff says no one saw the child enter: "Split second, we're talking about seconds for that kid to walk in that room unbeknownst to them, grab that gun, and it goes off."

Deputy Daniel Fanning wasn't on duty during the incident, and the gun was a personal weapon, not a police one, a TBI rep says, per the Tennessean. The shooting, currently under investigation, "appears accidental at this time," the rep adds. No charges are pending. (More Tennessee stories.)