Hazelwood community reeling after 6-year-old boy accidentally shoots himself in the head
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A community is reeling after a 6-year-old boy accidentally shot himself in the head.
The boy is in critical condition at a local hospital, and the people who know him want to know what happened.
First responders were called Sunday night to Hazelwood for a call that a boy accidentally shot himself. Police said when they got to the home on Johnston Avenue, they found the boy with a gunshot wound to the head.
"I just feel really sorry for whatever happened," neighbor Judy Earl said.
Earl said she knows the grandmother of the child. She said she has several other children in her care and would never be this irresponsible to leave a gun where kids could find it.
"From what I know of her, she is a woman that just works her butt off all the time and is always at work and if she isn't, she's here taking care of her grandson," Earl said.
Police do not know yet how the little boy got his hands on the gun, but they said it appears to be a "tragic accident."
Officials said there were four other people in the house, but it is not clear if they are family.
Earl said she would not be surprised if it is the grandmother's gun.
"She's a grandmother with children," she said. "And if she had a gun in the house, she was probably just having it to protect her and her children."
Police are investigating.