Two-year-old boy in critical condition ‘after being shot by his four-year-old cousin’ at Thanksgiving
The parents of the boy, who shot his cousin in the finger and chest, have been charged with child endangerment
A CHILD is fighting for his life in hospital after being shot by his four-year-old cousin in Philadelphia.
The two-year-old boy remains in a critical condition in hospital following the shooting on Thursday.
The parents of the kid who fired the gun have been arrested.
Rachel Santiago and Omar Laboy-Vega, both aged 34, have been charged with endangering the welfare of a child, and the father with illegal possession of a weapon.
Cops said the boy was playing his cousin in the living room when they got hold of a .40 caliber handgun.
The boy, aged four, was handling the gun when it discharged shooting the younger child in the chest and finger.
Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small told : "The mother was preparing Thanksgiving dinner when the two children were playing with the gun."
According to a neighbour Sonia Pizarro, the father ran outside in tears screaming "my baby".
The boy was rushed to Temple University Hospital, and then Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
Santiago and Laboy-Vega, who were home at the time of the shooting, have been in custody since Thursday.
According to , there were 51 shootings involving toddlers in the United States from January 1st to October 20th of this year.
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