Police: 3-Year-Old Boy Accidentally Shoots Uncle In Center City
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Philadelphia Police say a 3-year-old boy accidentally shot his uncle in Center City, Friday.
Police say a car-load of relatives were in a Dodge SUV when it parked at 16th and Arch Streets. The boy's father, an off-duty Philadelphia Housing Authority police officer, had to go into City Hall.
Before he did, he stashed his weapon under the driver's seat. The rest of the family members left the vehicle, leaving the uncle and nephew.
A few minutes later, the child worked his way out of his car seat in the back, and started digging around under the seat and found the gun. The 24-year-old uncle was looking at his cell phone when the child pulled the trigger, around 11:30 a.m.
"It appears that at some point or another he was able to unstrap himself. He located the weapon from underneath the front passenger seat and fired one time," said Philadelphia Police Sgt. Eric Gripp. "It went into the 24-year-old males right shoulder. Went in through the back, exited through the front."
The uncle was shot twice in the shoulder and was rushed to Hahnemann Hospital in stable condition.