DETROIT (WXYZ) — A 3-year-old boy accidentally shot himself in the face after getting his hands on an unsecured gun on Detroit's east side on Friday.
It happened around 4:30 p.m. on St. Patrick Avenue near Elmo Street.
The bullet grazed the boy’s face. He was taken to the hospital and is expected to be OK but remains in critical condition as of Friday night.
Police say the child’s mom briefly set her gun on the counter and that’s when the boy shot himself. There was also a locked gun box inside of the home but was not used at the time.
“It only takes a minute, less than a minutes, seconds. You have to secure these weapons,” Detroit Police Department Chief James White said. “You’ve got curious kids, a 3-year-old toddler roaming around. They see you put a gun down, they’re probably going to pick it up just like anything else.”
With Michigan's gun storage law that took effect this year, White said they're looking into charging the mom with improper storage of a firearm.
Meanwhile, residents hope gun owners lock up their weapons responsibly and these incidents can come to an end.
“You want kids not to see guns in the first place," neighbor Lorenzo Hardy said. "The biggest thing is please lock your guns up. It doesn’t make sense for anybody to be hurt.”
Detroit police are investigating.
