Former officer indicted after 3-year-old fatally shoots himself

BUTLER COUNTY, Ohio (WXIX) - A former police officer has been indicted and is accused of child endangering, involuntary manslaughter, and reckless homicide after a 3-year-old fatally shot himself in March, according to Butler County Prosecuting Attorney Lindsay Sheehan.

Sheehan says that on March 30, the boyfriend of the toddler’s mother and former Centerville officer, Benjamin Bishop, left a gun he legally owned on the windowsill in the bedroom of a home on Park Avenue.

Hamilton officers and firefighters found the 3-year-old, later identified as Jared Green Jr., suffering from a gunshot wound, Lt. Jon Richardson with the Hamilton Police Department said.

According to a 911 caller, the gunshot wound was on his head at the hairline.

Green was taken to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, where he later died.

A judge set his bond at $100,000, according to a bailiff with Judge Noah Powers II.

At one point, Bishop worked at the Centerville Police Department but had resigned, Sheehan said. It is unclear why he left the force.

Sheehan adds that Bishop was a groundskeeper at the time of the shooting.

A warrant has been issued for his arrest, Sheehan said.

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