FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - A 5-year-old boy was taken to the hospital after he accidentally shot himself in the stomach in Plantation, police said.
Plantation Police and Fire Rescue units responded to an apartment complex home along the 5400 block of Northwest 11th Street, Friday evening.
Investigators said the child got a hold of the gun inside a unit.
A witness who identified herself as Leticia said she heard a noise that she didn’t associate with gunfire.
“I just heard a loud pop, but it sounded like a firework, didn’t sound like a gunshot,” she said.
Police said the victim’s mother was the one who found him and called 911.
Fire officials said the call was received just after 6:20 p.m.
First responders arrived at the scene to find the boy suffering from a gunshot wound to the abdomen.
Paramedics stabilized the young patient with rapid response emergency care and transported him to Broward Health Medical Center in serious but stable condition. He is expected to survive.
Fire rescue crews received a police escort to the hospital.
Back at the apartment complex, 7News cameras showed detectives going in and out of the top floor unit, while also spending more than an hour questioning a woman.
Police described the shooting as accidental.
It remains unclear whether the child lives at the apartment or whether his mother was present at the time. The type of firearm involved is unknown, as well as where it was located when the boy grabbed it.
The circumstances surrounding the shooting remain under investigation.
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