TACOMA, Wash. — A 6-year-old was treated for burns to his chest and cheek after his father shot him with flaming pellets from a firework gun, according to charging papers filed on Friday.
Court records give this account:
The boy’s mother took the child to Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital for the injuries July 6, and told Tacoma police what happened.
TRENDING NOW:
She’d heard a bang from the gun while she was in the shower, and when she got out, the child had been shot and was screaming.
- Woman paralyzed after tree supporting couple in hammock snaps
- Woman fakes seizure to thwart would-be robber in move learned from 'Law & Order'
- Seattle Council to choose new mayor; Gonzalez doesn't want job
- PHOTOS: Seahawks take on San Francisco 49ers in Seattle
- VIDEO: Seattle Mayor Decision
The boy told child protective services his father: “shooted me with a firework gun,” as the 6-year-old was eating instant noodles.
Dad had allegedly been upset that the boy hadn’t answered questions about where his mom had been that day.
But that wasn’t what the 48-year-old father told investigators.
He said he was trying to teach the child about gun safety, and hadn’t realized the gun was loaded.
He didn’t point it at the child, he said, but a round exploded when he was trying to open the gun to load it.
Prosecutors charged him with third-degree child assault, and set his arraignment for later this month.
RELATED COVERAGE