Albuquerque, New Mexico - A three-year-old boy shot and wounded his father and pregnant mother with a 9mm handgun that he pulled out of the woman's purse while searching for an iPad, police in New Mexico said on Sunday.

Both parents needed hospital treatment for non-life threatening injuries after the bullet went through his father's buttocks and into his mother's shoulder, Albuquerque Police Department Officer Simon Drobik said.

The woman, who is eight months into her pregnancy, is being kept at the hospital for observation. The man has been released, said Drobik, who was first to arrive at the scene of the incident at an Albuquerque motel on Saturday afternoon.

“On the kid's side, it's a horrible accident that happened, but the parents are still culpable,” Drobik said. “They should have secured the gun.”

The couple could face felony negligence charges. The child does not face criminal charges, Drobik said.