PITTSBURGH — A child was rushed to the hospital after being shot in the head in a Pittsburgh home on Saturday morning.
Pittsburgh Public Safety spokesperson Eliza Durham says officers were called to a home in the 900 block of Kirkbride Street around 9:45 a.m. for a reported shooting.
When officers got on scene, they spoke with a 9-year-old child who said he and his 8-year-old brother were playing with a gun in the basement. The gun went off while the children were handling it, shooting the 7-year-old in the head.
It wasn’t exactly clear how the gun went off, but Durham says the investigation so far shows the 9-year-old accidentally shot the 7-year-old, as the 9-year-old told police that the gun was in his possession at the time of the incident.
The 7-year-old was rushed to an area hospital in critical condition and taken immediately into surgery. Durham called it a “very critical injury.”
No adults were home at the time of the shooting. Durham says an adult who lives in the home had recently left for work.
The 9-year-old and a 16-year-old boy, who was also in the home at the time, were taken into custody for questioning.
Investigators did not initially recover a gun at the home, though officials said one had been recovered in an update around 8:30 p.m.
At this point, no charges are pending. Durham says that could change as the investigation unfolds.
The Mobile Crime Unit responded to the scene along with Violent Crime Unit and Homicide detectives.
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