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Toddler accidentally shoots and kills mother in Tulsa, Okla.

A Tulsa, Okla., toddler got hold of the handgun his mother used in the Army Reserve and shot her in the head, police said.

By Frances Burns

TULSA, Okla., Nov. 25 (UPI) -- A Tulsa, Okla., mother of two was accidentally shot by her toddler with a semi-automatic handgun as she changed her baby's diaper, police said.

Christa Engles, 26, was pronounced dead late Monday afternoon about an hour after she was taken to St. John's Medical Center. She had been shot in the head.

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Police Sgt. Dave Walker described the shooting as a "horrible horrible accident."He said that Walker's mother returned home to find her daughter badly wounded in a front room with the two children.

The 3-year-old tried to run from the house to avoid his grandmother, Walker said. He later told police he had pulled the trigger.

Police said the 9 mm Springfield handgun was in a holster and had been placed on the nightstand. The 3-year-old apparently found it while Engles was changing her year-old daughter's diaper.

The gun belonged to Engles, a member of the Army Reserve.

Engles' husband is an over-the-road trucker who was out of town.

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