A Kissimmee father was arrested on charges of illegally possessing a gun as a convicted felon after his 4-year-old son shot himself in the face and died from his injuries.
Michael Bragg, Sr., 32, was arrested on Thursday, March 9, by Kissimmee Police Department officers in connection with the death of his son, Michael Bragg, Jr.
According to Kissimmee Police Department investigators, on Thursday, March 9, a sergeant working off-duty detail at HCA Hospital Osceola observed a Chevrolet Camaro pull up to the Emergency Room doors at around 9:46 a.m. A woman exited the vehicle and ran into the hospital to get assistance from medical personnel.
The sergeant approached the vehicle and observed an unresponsive child with a facial wound to the head being removed. The child was rushed back to the Emergency Room for life-saving medical attention.
As the doctors were pronouncing the child deceased in a trauma room, detectives with the KPD Criminal Investigations Division arrived on the scene.
According to the report, the sergeant was told that the woman and Bragg, Sr. were sleeping at their residence in The Oaks community when they awoke to find Bragg, Jr. with an injury near a wheelchair in the residence. At the time, the woman and Bragg, Sr. said they were unsure how the injury occurred and said there were no guns in the house.
Officers conducted a sweep of the residence and, inside, found a large amount of blood in the living-room area. Additionally, officers located an intact firearm round.
Bragg, Sr. and the woman were transported to the Kissimmee Police Department to be interviewed about the incident.
During an interview, Bragg, Sr. initially stated there were no guns in the house before changing his story and saying “his friend had guns inside the house,” according to the report. Bragg, Sr. eventually stated he had knowledge of a gun in the house that he said was used for protection. He stated that the gun had a laser sight attached to it and that he told the woman to put the gun in the laundry room of the house on Wednesday, March 8.
The woman also initially stated that she had no knowledge of firearms in the house before confirming that there were two handguns inside.
After the interviews, a search warrant was conducted at the residence and two handguns were located: A Glock model 22 handgun and a Canik 9 mm handgun with a high capacity magazine. The Glock handgun had what appeared to be a red substance on it that is suspected to be blood.
Police confirmed that Bragg, Sr. was a convicted felon and, therefore, was in violation of Florida Statutes that prohibit the possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Bragg, Sr. is being charged with possession of a weapon by a convicted felon. He is being held with no bond on previously issued warrant for his arrest in Orange County.
The incident follows a similar, tragic shooting that claimed the life of a 3-year-old just weeks ago in DeLand. During that incident, the child gained access to the father’s firearm after it was left in his nightstand. The father, who is a state corrections officer, said he normally kept his firearm in a lockbox, but that the mechanism had stopped working recently.