Boy, 4, who apparently shot himself, is in critical condition

A toddler accidentally shot himself inside his Hockley-area home Tuesday, July 10, 2018. A toddler accidentally shot himself inside his Hockley-area home Tuesday, July 10, 2018. Photo: Jay R. Jordan Photo: Jay R. Jordan Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Boy, 4, who apparently shot himself, is in critical condition 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

The 4-year-old stepson of a Harris County Sheriff's office sergeant is "battling for his life" in the hospital after accidentally shooting himself at his home in Hockley on Tuesday, marking the second time this week that a child has managed to get a hold of a gun and unintentionally cause themselves major injury or death.

It also was at least the fifth time this year a child has accidentally shot themselves in the Houston area. The string of cases has put a spotlight on the issue of young children and guns.

On Wednesday, Harris County Constable Precinct 1 Alan Rosen's office said in the wake of recent shootings it would distribute free firearm safety kits to local residents in concert with Project ChildSafe. "It's just important for adults to take the necessary steps to protect children from firearms," Rosen said.

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One day after the latest shooting, an apparent accident, however, officials at the sheriff's office provided few new details about the circumstances of the shooting itself, including whether the boy used his father's patrol weapon. The internal affairs division will conduct an investigation and determine whether to seek charges in the case, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said.

"Our main concern at this point, at least for me, is just for us to remain prayerful and supportive of this family as they try to navigate this extremely difficult situation," Gonzalez told reporters after an unrelated press conference on Wednesday.

Many circumstances of the shooting are unknown or still unreleased by the sheriff's office. The boy shot himself in the head at his home in the 31700 block of Dunham Lake Drive and was airlifted to Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Texas Medical Center shortly after 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. He underwent an extensive surgery and is still in very critical condition, Gonzalez said.

It is not clear who owned the weapon or how the boy obtained it. Family members were believed to be home at the time of the shooting, but it's not known if the stepfather or anyone else was with the boy when it occurred.

Gonzalez said he has spoken with the "distraught" family and spent Tuesday night with them in the hospital.

"They were very thankful for the support," Gonzalez said on Wednesday. "They're relying on family to support one another, and obviously they're grieving and just really praying that this 4-year-old pulls through."

The boy is known to be an adorable, happy-go-lucky child, the sheriff said.

"Any time any 4-year-old gets injured, in any kind of way, it just breaks your heart," Gonzalez said.

Homicide investigators and the sheriff's office's Office of the Inspector General, which investigates internal affairs, will oversee an investigation into the shooting.

"We have again full confidence in our investigators to investigate these crimes," the sheriff said. "We'll be fair and thorough and transparent about it."

The stepfather, who is a seasoned veteran of the law enforcement agency, should be able to return to work during the investigation, Gonzalez said.

If the sheriff's office presents evidence to the Harris County District Attorney's Office and seeks charges, the district attorney's office would then look into whether any law seemed to be broken, spokesman Dane Schiller said. That includes determining who owned the gun and where it was when the child gained access, he said.

"They investigate the shootings, they gather all their evidence, they conduct their investigation, then they come to the prosecutors to determine if there is sufficient evidence that crime has been committed," Schiller said. "Every single case is handled individually."

Texas' Child Protection Access law enables gun owners to be charged with a Class A misdemeanor if a child under the age of 17 gains access to a loaded gun that the owner failed to secure or left in a place where they know the child has access.

If that person is a member of the child's family, and the child was killed or seriously injured, an arrest cannot be made until seven days after the offense was committed.

In February, 6-year-old Justin Gooden shot himself in the Third Ward with his sister's boyfriend's pistol. Days earlier, 4-year-old Kadren Johnson shot himself with a gun he found at his grandmother's home in Texas City.

Earlier this week, 2-year-old Christopher Williams Jr. fatally shot himself inside his Acres Homes area home.

And late last month, a father was charged with making a firearm accessible to a child after his 2-year-old son shot himself, becoming critically injured, at their southeast Houston apartment in May.

The father, Ali Parvez Masoom, is accused of leaving a .380 semi-automatic handgun on the table without a trigger lock in place, according to court documents. The boy crawled on the table, pulled the trigger and accidentally shot himself in the face, police said. He was taken to the hospital in critical but stable condition.

"It's something we have to really address," said Senior Deputy Thomas Gilliland after Tuesday's shooting. "How you store your weapon is very important. We all have the right to bear arms and hold handguns, but also you have to be responsible with that weapon when it's in your (home) and you have children. That should be the number-one priority."

Gonzalez echoed that on Wednesday and said that the number of accidental self-inflicted shootings is unnecessarily high.

"We see too many situations where young children in particular are getting hurt and losing their lives by gaining access to guns," he said. "So I hope that we can all continue to work together to change that availability."

Families need to realize that not following proper gun storage procedures can lead to serious consequences, both at home and with the law, Schiller said.

"The adult is grieving, the child is harmed or lost, and there's a matter of whether a crime has been committed," Schiller said. "You have a right to have a firearm, but you have to keep it secured properly; you have to be safe with it. It's a big responsibility."

Jay Jordan contributed to this article.

samantha.ketterer@chron.com

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