A 10-YEAR-OLD boy in the US has been accidentally shot by his babysitter after she began posing for pictures with a gun.
Law enforcement officials in Houston, Texas confirmed that the boy was taken to hospital in a critical condition following the shooting.
His condition has improved since with CNN confirming that the boy said is in a stable condition after undergoing surgery.
The shooting occurred on the evening of Tuesday, February 25, when the 19-year-old babysitter, thought to be a relative of the boy, found a gun in the apartment where she was looking after the child.
@HCSOTexas units are at 18200 blk of Chisholm Trail. Very preliminary report indicates a 10-yr-old has been shot. Child has been transported by ambulance, unk. condition. Circumstances surrounding the shooting are unknown. I’ll be en route to the scene. #HouNews pic.twitter.com/BgfhmllHeF
— Ed Gonzalez (@SheriffEd_HCSO) February 25, 2020
According to the Harris County Sheriff's Office, the girl then began posing with the gun and taking pictures of it.
The young woman is thought to have assumed the gun was unloaded at the time.
However, in the process of posing for pictures the firearm ended up going off, with a stray bullet hitting the nearby boy in the stomach.
Sheriff Ed Gonzalez took to Twitter to confirm that the woman INVOLVED has been charged with Injury to a Child-serious bodily injury.
Update: the 10-yr-old child is listed in serious condition but is expected to make a full recovery. The child’s aunt, Caitlyn Smith (w/f 19 yrs), has been arrested & charged with Injury to a Child-serious bodily injury. (2nd degree felony). Great work by our Child Abuse Unit and https://t.co/ik5tSVKoRy
— Ed Gonzalez (@SheriffEd_HCSO) February 27, 2020
He also urged the public to take the appropriate amount of care when handling guns.
"Firearms are dangerous weapons so take precautions to make sure things like that don't happen," Gilliland said.
"Taking selfies was not the best thing to be doing."
