A 10-year-old boy accidentally shot himself in the head while playing with his uncle's gun in south-eastern Brazil, it has been reported.
The fatal incident occurred during a family get-together at a rural property in Juatuba on Saturday.
Gabriel Gustavo de Souza Mota was playing with his cousin in a room when he reportedly stood on a stool and took his uncle's firearm from the top of a wardrobe.
While playing with the gun against his cousin's advice, he inadvertently shot himself in the head, the girl later told police.
As soon as they heard the gunshot, the adults rushed to the room and tragically saw Gabriel lying on the floor with a wound on his head.
They took him to the local hospital, but he sadly died as a result of the gun wound and police later seized the firearm as part of an ongoing investigation.
The uncle, a military police officer, told the force: "When he arrived at the rural property, he put his belongings in the room where the incident occurred.
"And his firearm was stored, by him, in the wardrobe, in the upper part, a place of difficult access, holstered and locked."
The school Gabriel attended suspended all classes on Monday so staff and students could mourn his passing.
Etelvina de Oliveira Guimaraes Municipal School said in a statement: "May the family, friends and teachers of this exemplary student, who left eternal memories in the hearts of everyone who had the privilege of knowing him, be comforted."
Brazil has the highest number of gun deaths in the world.
The far-right President Jair Bolsonaro has relaxed gun regulations, including making it easier for civilians to obtain hunting, shooting and collectors licences, known as CACs.
According to the NGO Sou da Paz, the number of people registered with CAC licences stood at 673,000 in July 2022, up nearly 500 per cent since Bolsonaro came to power in 2018.
Sou da Paz estimates there were 2.7 million privately owned guns in Brazil in July 2022.
On Monday, a campaign advert produced by former leftist president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's election team warned voters: “Bolsonarista violence has reached alarming heights … We need to put an end to this hatred and violence.
"Brazil needs peace.”
