NEW YORK (CBSNewYork)— A 4-year-old boy is in the fight of his young life after he was shot in the chest during a botched robbery in the Bronx.

Police said the gunman, identified as 17-year-old Mauricio Acosta, pulled the trigger while trying to steal an old coat that belonged to the boy’s father.

The father was bringing his son, 4-year-old Cencia Balthazzar, back to the women’s shelter where the toddler lives with his mother on Grand Avenue around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday when police said Acosta and two other teenagers tried to rob them.

1010 WINS’ Carol D’Auria reports one person is in custody https://newyork.cbslocal.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/14578484/2011/11/2-shot-2-dauria-w-41-sdmiller.mp3

Sources told 1010 WINS’ Carol D’Auria the father and Acosta apparently got into a struggle and the gun went off shooting the young boy in the chest.

“I seen the baby. The legs were spread apart and the mom was trying to hold her or him, whatever it was. The baby wasn’t moving at all,” witness Neftali Negron told CBS 2’s Kristin Thorne.

CBS 2’s Pablo Guzman reports two young men rushed the boy to get medical attention. The child was transferred from St. Barnabas Hospital to Columbia-Presbyterian. Investigators say he has lost consciousness three times.

Police said the father wrestled a gun away from one of the alleged muggers and ran after one of the suspects, shooting the teen in the back of the head.

Officers found the 17-year-old alleged assailant shot nearby at Grand Avenue and Evelyn Place.

“He was saying ‘Please I need help. I need help. Somebody call an ambulance.’ I called the ambulance,” one witness said.

He was listed in critical condition at Saint Barnabas Hospital.

Guzman reports police have tracked down the third suspect.

Police are questioning the father.

LISTEN: 1010 WINS’ Steve Sandberg reports https://newyork.cbslocal.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/14578484/2011/11/2-shot-2-dauria-w-41-sdmiller.mp3

“I think this is totally unbelievable and whoever did this needs to get caught because you hit a 4-year-old. My sympathy is out to their parents,” said resident Rahrah Hernandez.

Do you think crime in the Bronx is on the rise? Sound off in our comments section below…