Gary Mayor Eddie Melton, l-r, Kandice Cole, at podium, Councilman Mark Spencer, and Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter, in background

Do you have a firearm and is it locked up?

Contributed By: The 411 News

Four-year-old Eric Cole died on Saturday, August 5, 2017 after he found a gun in his babysitter’s home and handled it, his mother Kandice Cole said at a press conference Monday morning in Gary’s city hall. “Me and my husband dropped Eric and his sister at the babysitter’s that Saturday morning as we usually did.”

Eric’s picture was on the shirt she wore.

Cole was in downtown Gary to help spread the word about Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter’s Gun Safety Lock initiative.

“It’s my hope that the more I share our tragedy, I can spare other parents the heartbreak,” Cole said. “We ask a lot about food allergies and pet allergies. But we don’t ask ‘do you have a firearm and is it locked up.’”

“I want a gun lock in the hand of every gun owner in Lake County,” Prosecutor Carter said about the program that is distributing free gun locks to the public. The program promotes responsible firearm ownership and educates the public on how to reduce the risk of firearm related incidents. Donations have come in to purchase gun locks and suppliers have donated gun locks.

For Prosecutor Carter, 2 crimes should never happen. At the top is children killed or injured by unsecured guns. Second are deaths and injuries committed by intoxicated drivers.

Carter said 6 children in Lake County have been killed by unsecured guns in the last 18 months. “It does not make sense to lose loved ones like this. We hear the terminology ‘accident.’ Using accident diminishes that child’s life,” Carter said. “Even our office used that term. We had to correct ourselves. These are no accidents. These are death investigations.”

The babysitter and her husband were charged in the death of Eric Cole. Preparing for trial, the prosecutor’s office accepted a plea deal, Carter said. The husband took responsibility, since it was his gun. The babysitter’s husband was sentenced to five years, with 1 year suspended, in the Department of Corrections.

Carter said the prosecutor’s office has 3 pending cases involving the death of children from unsecured firearms.

Gary city councilman Mark Spencer found a way to help promote the initiative. Spencer, the Director of the West Side Theatre Guild, produced 3 videos to help educate the public about the program.

The packaging on the free gun lock carries a QR (quick response) Code. When scanned with a smart phone, the user is connected to the videos. The videos are messages from Prosecutor Carter, an interview with Kandice Cole and Spencer, and a demonstration on how to use the gun lock.

As a new city councilman, Spencer said he was looking for ways to assist. ‘I was invited to a conference led by Prosecutor Carter. Gun lock safety has affected me. As an educator for over 33 years, I’ve lost 18 children to gun violence. It’s been very traumatic.”

Free gun locks can be picked up at the Gary Public Safety Facility. St. John Chief of Police Steven Flores and Highland Police Commander John Banasiak attended the press conference. Both said their departments have long been distributing free gun locks.

Carter said the locks will also be given to any Lake County police department that requests them.

Story Posted:04/24/2024