MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Police swarmed an apartment complex in Miami Gardens Wednesday morning after a 2-year-old boy shot himself, authorities confirmed.
The shooting was reported at 1:38 a.m. in the 2200 block of Northwest 210th Street.
According to Miami Gardens police spokeswoman Diana Delgado, the incident was reported as a “self-inflicted gunshot wound involving a toddler.”
She said officers arrived at the scene and found the boy suffering from a single gunshot wound to the leg.
Noon report:
“The toddler was in the backseat of a vehicle, grabbed mom’s purse and took out the firearm and shot himself in the leg,” Delgado told reporters at the scene, adding that the child was not in “any type of seat restraint.”
One neighbor who was standing outside the building along Northwest 22nd Avenue, just north of Hard Rock Stadium, told Local 10’s Jolena Esperto that she is heartbroken to see something like this happen.
She said she was initially too afraid to step outside after hearing what sounded like a gunshot, but once she did, she saw a small boy -- maybe 1 or 2 years old -- getting taken away to the hospital.
“It’s disheartening because the mom was screaming for 10 minutes before the police even got here,” said Monique Wint, who lives nearby. “She was pumping the kid and trying to prevent the loss of blood and everything and they took the mom and took the child.”
Video taken at the scene by Local 10 News shows a white Nissan Altima with blood stains on the back passenger side of the car.
Neighbors said they heard a woman screaming for help right after the boy shot himself inside the vehicle.
Delgado confirmed the child was taken by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue to a local children’s hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
A second neighbor, Natasha Edge, said she grew up in the neighborhood and never wants to have to see something like this happen.
“I heard like one shot. I didn’t come outside right away,” she said. “The only thing I felt was pain because imagine, like, you have children and you’re thinking of your child going to the hospital. Like that’s a tragic situation.”
Delgado said the investigation into the shooting remains ongoing. It wasn’t immediately clear whether any adults would be facing charges.
“For parents watching, when you have a firearm, you shouldn’t have a firearm at anyone’s reach. You should have your firearm on safety mode,” Delgado said.
Delgado confirmed that the Florida Department of Children and Families was notified and is involved in the investigation.
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