Martha Elson

A four-year-old west Louisville boy was in critical condition with life-threatening injuries at Kosair Children’s Hospital late Saturday afternoon after reportedly shooting himself in the face at his home near Algonquin Park.

Police believe the shooting was accidental, said Alicia Smiley, spokeswoman for Louisville Metro Police, who was at the home in the 2700 block of Narrangansett Drive, near Cypress and 25th streets.

The homicide unit will handle the investigation, even though the boy was still alive Saturday afternoon, Smiley said. His injuries are considered critical and life threatening. Smiley said she did not have any information about how the child obtained the gun.

The shooting was reported about 3:30 p.m. at the home, where the child’s mother, a two-year-old girl and an infant also were found inside. There were no injuries to the other three occupants, and the relationship among the children was not immediately known, Smiley said.

Cynthia Thompson, the child’s grandmother, cried while preparing to go to the hospital as she recounted how she had just taken the child out to get a haircut and to spend time with him before the incident happened.

As to the details, “I have no clue about it,” she said in front of the house. “I’m just devastated.”

She said her daughter, whom she declined to identify, was under house arrest and should not have had a gun. “I told him I loved him, and then this happened,” Thompson said.

Emily Woolfolk, who has lived a few doors down for 27 years, said she did not know the residents of the house where the shooting occurred and that they had not lived there very long. She had not seen the four-year-old.

“When they put him in the ambulance, I thought he must be kind of small, because I didn’t see his feet,” she said.

Reporter Martha Elson can be reached at (502) 582-7061. Follow her on Twitter at @MarthaElson_cj.