An eight-year-old boy was rushed to a Bronx hospital Monday afternoon after he accidentally shot himself with a gun, city and fire officials said.
The shooting took place in an apartment building in the Fordham Hill section of the Bronx around 12:30 p.m.
Council Member Fernando Cabrera said the child's self-inflicted gunshot wound was accidental and didn't penetrate the boy's skull. Medics took the boy to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in critical condition, police said, but he was expected to survive.
"Today an eight-year-old child accidentally shot himself in the head with a gun he found in his family's apartment and was rushed to the hospital," a statement from the council member read.
The boy's mother was home at the time of the incident, according to Cabrera, but it wasn't clear what occurred in the moments leading up to the shooting. His father, who was not home at the time of the shooting, was later taken into custody by police who claim the gun is his, and is not legally registered.
Cabrera issued a revised statement after originally stating he wasn't sure of the gun's registration status.
"We now know the gun was legally registered, but the results are tragic for this child and his family," he said.
