A 10-year-old boy was shot by his babysitter as she attempted to take selfies while holding a gun, police in Houston say.
Caitlyn Smith shot the child in the stomach on Tuesday, thinking the weapon was unloaded. Police confirmed she is the child’s aunt.
The 19-year-old has since been charged with injury to a child and serious bodily injury.
The boy is in a serious condition but is expected to make a full recovery.
The bullet missed the child’s vital organs, according to Fox 26.
Harris County Sherriff Ed Gonzales told the news site the weapon was kept unsecured at home.
“The female indicates that she retrieved that weapon to take pictures, and in the course of taking pictures the gun went off and struck the child,” he added.
“Very tragic situation, we see this quite a bit.”
Senior Deputy Thomas Gilliland told CNN: “Firearms are dangerous weapons so take precautions and make sure things like that don’t happen. Taking selfies was not the best thing to be doing.”
According to the Gun Violence Archive, so far this year 6,155 people have died in shootings in the US.
Of that number, 321 deaths were unintentional.
Last year, 3,760 people under the age of 18 were injured or killed in shootings.
www.bbc.com
