5-year-old boy shoots 4-year-old boy in playground outside Washington, D.C.

 

Fox DC

Scene where a five-year-old Maryland boy shot his four-year-old neighbor

A 5-year-old boy shot his 4-year-old neighbor in the back at a Maryland playground Thursday afternoon, authorities said.

The bullet passed through the young boy's upper torso while the two were playing in Hillcrest Heights, suburb about 10 miles southeast of Washington D.C., officials said.

Officers were called to the scene shortly after the shooting and found the victim, who was taken to hospital where he is expected to survive.

The young shooter was scared by what happened and ran away and hid the handgun in his family home, but it was later recovered, police said.

It is not clear where the gun came from, but authorities are questioning his parents and adults who have access to the apartment.

"How did the 5-year-old obtain the handgun, and who does it belong to?" asked Prince George's County Police Officer Mike Rodriguez.

A man who described himself as the shooter's uncle told the Washington Post that witnesses believed the boy found the gun outside.

Dee Johnson, 29, said the child's mother lives in the apartment with her four children and does not keep guns.

"I know for a fact my sister don't keep no guns in the house," said Johnson, adding he was "praying" for the injured kid.

"It's just two little kids, two innocent kids," he added.

"We're just trying to figure out what's going on."