Aunt, 19, ‘accidentally’ shoots her 10-year-old nephew while taking SELFIES with a gun
- Caitlyn Smith was babysitting the child Tuesday evening in Houston, Texas
- The 19-year-old was taking selfies with a gun when it accidentally fired off
- The boy was hit in the stomach and is in hospital in serious condition but expected to survive
- Smith was arrested and charged with injury to a child – serious bodily injury
A 10-year-old boy is in critical condition after his 19-year-old aunt ‘accidentally’ shot him while taking selfies.
Caitlyn Smith was babysitting the child Tuesday and while posing for pictures holding a gun, the teenager fired by mistake.
The young male was hit in the stomach during the incident around 4pm in an apartment on the 18200 block of Chisholm Trail in Houston, Texas.
‘There was an unsecured weapon inside the home,’ Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez told Fox 26. ‘The female indicates that she retrieved that weapon to take pictures, and in the course of taking pictures the gun went off and struck the child.’
Caitlyn Smith was babysitting the child Tuesday evening in Houston, Texas and was taking selfies with a gun when it accidentally fired off. The scene of the incident is an apartment pictured left
The boy was hit in the stomach and is in hospital in serious condition but expected to survive. Emergency vehicles are seen responding
The child was rushed to hospital and the Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez initially reported that his condition was unknown.
It’s unclear who owned the weapon.
The circumstances surrounding what happened were also unknown when the boy admitted to medical care.
But Gonzalez visited the hospital to investigate, the woman’s nephew was classed in critical condition Wednesday.
However no vital organs were hit and the sheriff shared in the update that the youngster is expected to survive the injury.
Smith was arrested and charged with injury to a child – serious bodily injury, a second-degree felony.
Smith was arrested and charged with injury to a child – serious bodily injury. The post-shooting scene is pictured
She remained at Harris County Jail and is due in court Friday morning.
Gonzalez credited the department’s Child Abuse Unit for the ‘great work’ in a tweet Wednesday.
It’s unknown whether anyone else will be charged.
A woman whose son attends school with the boy said it’s ridiculous he was seriously injured for the sake of a photo.
‘It’s really sad. To know that you even pull out a gun in front of a child is really crazy,’ Cece York told Fox 26.
The sheriff added that it’s not all that uncommon.
‘Very tragic situation, we see this quite a bit,’ he told Fox 26. ‘In my opinion, no child should ever have to undergo anything like this.’