Boy, 3, Shot Self In Arm After Unsecured Gun Was Left On Bed: Tampa Police

TAMPA, FL — A man was arrested Tuesday after his girlfriend’s 3-year-old son was injured when he found his unsecured gun at a Tampa home and accidentally shot himself, authorities said.

Steve Johnson, 30, was charged with felon in possession of a firearm, child neglect with great bodily harm, safe storage of firearms and possession of cannabis less than 20 grams, Tampa police said in a news release.

When officers responded to the 3600 block of N. 51st Street, they found the boy with a gunshot wound to his arm.

The child had been in bed with his mother and Johnson, her boyfriend, around 7:15 p.m., when he left the gun in the bed after getting up to use the bathroom, police said.

The boy accessed the gun, which discharged, the bullet hitting the child in the forearm, investigators said.

His mother immediately rendered aid to his gunshot wound and called 911. The boy was brought to a nearby hospital with stable, non-life-threatening injuries.

"It is incredibly fortunate that this was not a fatal tragedy," Chief Lee Bercaw said. "This incident highlights the double danger of a convicted felon unlawfully possessing a firearm and then failing to secure it. A gun should never be within reach of a child. There is no excuse for such negligence when the cost could easily have been a young life."

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