DETROIT – A 4-year-old boy has been hospitalized after shooting himself with an unsecured handgun on Detroit’s west side.
The shooting occurred on Friday at 12:30 p.m. in the 3000 block of Fullerton Avenue.
Detroit Police Department’s 10th Precinct Captain Michael Dicicco said officers arrived on the scene where the child was still in the house, suffering from a minor injury to his hand.
The 4-year-old boy was transported to Henry Ford Hospital for treatment.
“We believe that he did get ahold of an unsecured weapon. When the officers got here, they made sure that there were no other injuries in the house,” said Dicicco.
Officials said while they were in the home, they encountered a couple of firearms before securing the residence as they were seeking a search warrant to continue the investigation.
At the time of the shooting, officials say there were two adults inside, which included the child’s mother and another family member.
“We have one in custody right now. The other family member had some outstanding warrants, so it’s just for an investigation right now. There’s no charges that I can report just yet,” Dicicco said.
Officials say there were other handguns in the home throughout some of the bedrooms, but until they got a chance to go through the entire house, they didn’t know how many guns were inside in total.
“The child definitely got ahold of one of the handguns and more than likely shot himself. We don’t know who the handgun belonged to, and we haven’t had a chance to secure the weapons yet,” Dicicco said.
Officials say there are at least two handguns and a facsimile of some sort resembling a BB gun found inside the house.
Officers also removed three dogs from the home’s basement for safety reasons, but once they got search warrants, they would be ready to search as they said they’d need free range over the house to ensure everything else was clear.
“At a minimum, if they have a firearm in which they are able to have, if they’re allowed to have, it needs to be secured. They can’t just be out, especially around an area where a small child or anybody can get to. It’s a gun owner or gun possesser’s responsibility to secure that gun and make sure that no one hurts themself just like this situation.”
Detroit Police Department’s 10th Precinct Captain Michael Dicicco
This is a breaking news story, and updates will be posted as they become available.
Watch Detroit Police Department 10th Precinct Captain Michael Dicicco’s full press conference below
