Toddler Shoots, Kills Cop Father

By Reuters
New York Times Journalist
January 4, 2002

SMYRNA, Tennesee - A 22-year-old policeman was killed by his 3-year-old son when the boy picked up his father's gun off the kitchen table and accidentally fired, police said Friday.

Joshua Haffner, who had recently joined the Smyrna Police Department, returned home Thursday from night shift duty, put down his gun, and was struck in the back by a bullet fired by his unidentified son, police spokeswoman Barbara Wilford said.

Haffner was taken by helicopter to Vanderbilt University Medical Center where he died a short time later. He had graduated recently from the Metro Police Academy.

Smyrna is a town of 14,000 southeast of Nashville.

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