4-year-old shot himself with unsecured weapon, Middletown police say

The incident happened about 5:30 p.m. at the park located in the 4000 block of Grand Avenue.

A 27-year-old man was in the park with four young children, including the boy, who was injured, Nelson said. The report also lists a woman as a witness, and she has the same last name as the man. Nelson said the child shot was the man’s brother, and his own child as well as his girlfriend’s children were with him.

The boy went back to the vehicle for a drink of water when he picked up the gun and fired it, the report says.

“He goes to the car. The weapon is unsecured and he ended up discharging the weapon on himself,” said Middletown Police Chief David Birk.

The gun used is listed as a Smith and Wesson 9-millimeter handgun, according to the police report. It was left in the SUV between the seat and the console, Nelson said.

The child was hit in the abdomen, but the injuries are not believed to be life-threatening. The injured child was driven to the hospital by the brother.

Jacot Park was full of people on the warm spring evening, and police say there are several witnesses. Dispatchers received two 911 calls.

A woman told dispatchers the vehicle had left the park, probably en route to a hospital.

“A boy came out of the vehicle and he was crying ... he had a lot of blood on his back,” she said. “There was a commotion that it was a gunshot wound.”

A male called, telling the dispatcher a child shot himself with a gun.

“I heard it. Then the parents (police say it was the child’s brother) came up to the car and asked the kid ‘are you okay, are you okay?’ It was a real gun,” said the man who called. He also said the vehicle had left the park.

It is the second time in less than a month a Butler County child has been hit by gunfire after apparently picking up an unsecured gun. On March 30, a 3-year-old picked up a weapon in his Hamilton home and discharged it. The child was hit in the head and died.

That incident remains under investigation, but Butler County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser told the Journal-News that case will be reviewed by a grand jury.