Crime & Safety
Boy Shoots Himself in Butt with Gun Dad Left for Protection: Police
"Leaving a rifle with an 11-year-old is never a good idea," Detroit police official says. Dad is in custody.
DETROIT, MI – An 11-year-old boy whose dad left him home alone with a rifle for personal protection accidentally shot himself in the buttocks Thursday, Detroit police said.
The boy is in stable condition at Children’s Hospital, and his father has been arrested on second-degree child abuse charges, WDIV-TV reports. The bullet went through one side of his buttocks and exited the other, according to the report.
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The incident unfolded about 8:30 a.m in the 3900 block of W. Vernor. The boy is on spring break, and before he left for work Thursday morning, his father told him the rifle was there if he needed it.
The father and son recently moved to Detroit from California. The boy’s father told police he got the gun after learning there had been a triple homicide in the apartment building across the street last summer.
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The TV station said the boy will be placed in protective custody, but relatives in California are on their way to Detroit.
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