NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — A Norfolk 4-year-old was taken to the hospital on Friday morning with an accidental, self-inflicted gunshot wound, police say.
Police have arrested a 28-year-old man in connection with the shooting.
Darius D. Wilson, of Portsmouth, is charged with one count of abuse and neglect of children reckless disregard, and four counts of abuse and neglect of children.
Norfolk police responded to the Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters just after 10:30 a.m. for the report of a child who was shot.
The wound was determined not to be life-threatening and the shooting was accidental. The child shot himself in the foot.
There are few details in the case, but detectives determined it happened inside a residence in the 7900 block of Diggs Road, off Tidewater Drive.
Investigation by police determined the child was inside the residence when he found an unsecured gun and accidentally shot himself.
Wilson is being held in the Norfolk City Jail without bond.
Neighbors told 10 On Your Side’s Tamara Scott that the shooting happened on the second floor of an apartment complex. The woman who heard the shots says she hid, fearing the shots would come into her apartment.
A woman named Patty lived on the first floor of her apartment in the 7900 block of Diggs Road and this morning was definitely unlike any other.
“I heard a pop pop and I got the floor boom. I thought the bullet was coming into my house,” she said. “Now to find out it was a little 4-year-old that just traumatized me.”
Although the child is expected to be OK, Patty worries about the long-term impact this will have on the child.
“You don’t know if they are going to be traumatized for the rest of his life or not for being shot,” she said.
She said she hopes people are more alert and careful with kids around especially if they own a gun.
