After being shot by an 8-year-old family friend inside a Houston home on Sunday, a 5-year-old child is in critical condition, according to authorities.
Following the incident on Saturday afternoon in east Houston’s Trinity/Houston Gardens neighbourhood, three people were taken into custody to be questioned, according to police.
At least one adult was there when the shooting took place, according to Commander Jonathan Halliday of the Houston Police Department. According to Halliday, it’s not immediately evident how the elder boy came to possess the rifle.
Around 12:30 pm, police arrived at the house. Halliday said at a news conference on Saturday that someone at the house informed authorities that a shooting had just taken place there.
“When they arrived, they learned that a 5-year-old had been shot one time reportedly by an 8-year-old,” Halliday said.
The injured boy was transported to Houston’s Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital by his father before police arrived at the house, according to Halliday. The youngster was eventually helicoptered to Memorial Hermann Hospital, where his condition was rated as critical, according to Halliday.
According to Halliday, the shooting is being looked into by the police department’s serious assaults squad. He said that no one had been detained.
“We know that one adult was inside the house, but we’re not sure the total number of people,” Halliday said.
He said, “They’re all family friends,” and stated that one of the shooting’s children was a visitor at the time.
He claimed that the elder boy who is alleged to have shot the gun sustained a head wound as a result of the shooting, however, it was unclear how he was hurt.
According to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, the shooting occurred a little over a month after an 8-year-old kid in a Houston suburb was accidentally shot and killed by his 10-year-old sibling.
The younger youngster was fatally shot in the torso inside their flat while the older boy was allegedly playing with a shotgun that went off.
The Gun Violence Archive reports that this year, shootings have claimed the lives of at least 299 children aged 11 or younger and injured another 648.
