Police charge father they say accidentally shot sleeping toddler

State police on Sunday arrested a Sussex County man they say accidentally shot his 2-year-old daughter as she slept.

The girl was shot in the leg about 1:10 a.m. Sunday in a home in the 37000 block of Muddy Neck Road near Ocean View, Master Cpl. Gary E. Fournier said.

Investigation determined the shooting occurred as Joseph M. Jenkins Jr., 38, showed his wife a gun he had gotten from a friend after his shotgun was stolen during a burglary, Fournier said.

State police had taken a burglary report from the couple about 9 p.m. Saturday, he said, noting that an undisclosed amount of cash also was stolen.

After troopers left the home, Jenkins went to visit a friend of his, returning home about 1 a.m., Fournier said.

Upon his entering the house, Fournier said, “his wife woke up from sleeping on the floor in the living room.”

As the couple’s three children – two 2-year-old girls and a 10-year-old boy – slept on a nearby sofa, Jenkins sat on the floor by his wife to show her a .40 caliber handgun he had gotten from his friend, Fournier said.

As Jenkins pulled back on the gun’s slide and let go, a bullet fired and hit one of the girls, he said.

The mother immediately called 911, he added.

A Delaware State Police Aviation Unit helicopter took the girl to Nemours/Alfred I. du Pont Hospital for Children in Rockland, Fournier said.

She was being treated later Sunday, he said, but her condition was not disclosed.

Her father was taken into custody and charged with first-degree assault, firearm possession during commission of a felony and three counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

Lacking $41,500 secured bail, he was committed to Sussex Correctional Institution near Georgetown.

Contact robin brown at (302) 324-2856 or rbrown@delawareonline.com. Find her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter @rbrowndelaware.