An Ohio man who says he accidentally shot himself in the hand also wounded his girlfriend’s 1-year-old daughter from the gunfire, prompting authorities to press charges, the Akron Beacon Journal reports.
Details of exactly how the shooting unfolded have not yet been released, but police say the incident occurred around 10:30 p.m. Thursday, according to the newspaper.
“The boyfriend of the child’s mother accidentally discharged his handgun, striking himself in the hand. The bullet then struck the child in the side,” police told WEWS-TV.
The girl’s mother brought the child to an Akron hospital the following morning, on Christmas Eve. It was not clear why the mother did not seek medical assistance for the girl earlier, although police told the newspaper that the child’s wounds were not life-threatening.
A witness who was at the hospital’s emergency room around 6 a.m. Friday told the newspaper that the mother was clearly distraught.
“I could tell something was wrong,” the witness told the newspaper. “I heard her just say, ‘My baby has gunshot wounds in her back.’”
Several nurses responded and attended to the baby, according to the news outlet.
“The one nurse came back out to ask her a question,” the witness told the newspaper. “[The mother] kept saying, ‘Is she going to be OK? Is she going to be OK?’”
Multiple police officers soon arrived at the hospital, and child protective services later took emergency custody of the baby and a sibling, according to the newspaper.
Police subsequently arrested the mother’s boyfriend, a 29-year-old Cleveland man. He has been charged with felonious assault, negligent assault, receiving stolen property, and discharging firearms.
Authorities did not immediately release the name of the boyfriend who was arrested; he was booked into the Summit County Jail.
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