Man gets 4 years in prison after toddler shoots mom

NORWALK – A Norwalk man pleaded no contest Wednesday after a 4-year-old boy grabbed the man’s shotgun and then shot the child’s mother.

Brandon Gilbert Ambriz, 24, pleaded to one count of possession of a firearm by a felon. He was immediately sentenced to five years in prison.

Ambriz left the shotgun in a Honda in which children were regularly driven, prosecutors said. On Jan. 23, the 4-year-old shot his mother while she was in the driver’s seat and the boy was in the backseat.

Three other children in the vehicle were not injured.

The shooting occurred outside Ramona Preschool in Norwalk.

The mother was shot in the upper torso but survived. The children were placed in the custody of Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services.