Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina and Pemberton Township Police Chief David H. Jantas announced that the father of a 4-year-old boy who died earlier this month from an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound in the family’s Browns Mills home has been charged in connection with the death.
According to a statement released by officials, Mr. Andrew Mack, 31, was charged with Endangering the Welfare of a Child (Second Degree) and Storage of Firearms if Minors May Have Access (Disorderly Persons).
Mack is scheduled for a first appearance in Superior Court in Mount Holly tomorrow afternoon.
The case will then be prepared for presentation to a Burlington County Grand Jury for possible indictment.
Emergency medical technicians and officers from the Pemberton Township Police Department were called to the family’s home on Maricopa Trail just after 7 p.m. on February 7 and discovered Lincoln Mack with a gunshot wound to his cheek.
He was transported to Capital Health at Deborah – Emergency Services, where he was pronounced dead at approximately 8 p.m. officials said.
The investigation revealed that Andrew Mack was asleep in a bedroom with a loaded 9mm handgun next to him on the bed when Lincoln came into the room and took the firearm. Lincoln then went into another room where he had been playing with this younger sister and shot himself in the face.
“The death of Lincoln Mack was a tragedy, and it was made all the worse by the fact that it was entirely avoidable,” Prosecutor Coffina said.
“Our deepest sympathies are with the Mack family and all of those who loved Lincoln, however, the defendant must be held accountable for not securing his firearm.”
Both of Lincoln’s parents were inside the home at the time of the shooting, as were two siblings.
The incident was investigated by detectives from the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office and the Pemberton Township Police Department. The lead investigators are BCPO Det. Erica Ridge and Pemberton Township Police Detective Tom Lucas.
All persons are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.