State police are investigating after a 10-year-old boy accidentally shot his 11-year-old brother in the leg.
Trooper Dan Kesten said the incident happened Sunday afternoon at the boys’ home on Moran Road in Summit Township. According to police, the boys were home alone when they heard a noise, got scared and grabbed a gun.
“It was located on a shelf where the parents believed they couldn’t get to it,” Trooper Kesten said in an interview on Monday. “They retrieved the gun, loaded it, and that’s when it went off- striking the 11-year-old.”
The boy was taken to Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh and is expected to make a full recovery.
The incident was reported to Butler County Children and Youth Services and to the district attorney’s office, who will decide whether to press charges. In the meantime, Trooper Kesten urges homeowners to lock up their guns.
“If you have firearms in the house, make sure they are locked up and the kids are told to never, ever touch them,” he said. “But kids will be kids, which is why those gun locks are so important to put on firearms. Or put them in a safe.”
Police did not identify the caliber, make and type of the firearm.
