5-year-old in critical condition after being shot by 8-year-old family friend in Houston: Police

(HOUSTON) — A 5-year-old boy is fighting for his life Sunday after being shot by an 8-year-old family friend inside a Houston home, police said.

Three people were detained for questioning following the shooting Saturday afternoon in the Trinity/Houston Gardens neighborhood in east Houston, police said.

Commander Jonathan Halliday of the Houston Police Department said at least one adult was present when the shooting occurred. Halliday said it was not immediately clear how the older boy got his hands on the gun.

Police officers went to the home around 12:30 p.m. Saturday after someone at the residence reported a shooting had just occurred there, Halliday said during a news conference.

“When they arrived, they learned that a 5-year-old had been shot one time reportedly by an 8-year-old,” Halliday said.

Before officers reached the home, the wounded child was taken by his father to Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital in Houston, Halliday said. The boy was later flown by helicopter to Memorial Hermann Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition, Halliday said.

Halliday said the police department’s major assaults unit is investigating the shooting. He said no one has been arrested.

“We know that one adult was inside the house, but we’re not sure the total number of people,” Halliday said.

He said one of the children involved in the shooting was visiting residence when the incident occurred, adding, “they’re all family friends.”

He said the older boy who purportedly fired the gun suffered a laceration to his head following the shooting, but it was not clear how he was injured.

The shooting came a little over a month after an 8-year-old boy in a suburb of Houston was accidentally shot and killed by his 10-year-old brother, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. Authorities said the older boy was playing with a shotgun that went off inside their apartment, fatally striking the younger child in the torso.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, at least 299 children 11 years old or younger have been killed in shootings this year and another 648 have been injured.

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