San Jose boy wounded when upstairs neighbor shoots self in foot

A 9-year-old boy was wounded after being struck by a bullet when his upstairs neighbor shot himself in the foot Wednesday in San Jose. A 9-year-old boy was wounded after being struck by a bullet when his upstairs neighbor shot himself in the foot Wednesday in San Jose. Photo: Google Maps Photo: Google Maps Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close San Jose boy wounded when upstairs neighbor shoots self in foot 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A 40-year-old San Jose man was arrested Wednesday after he shot himself in the foot with a rifle, wounding his sleeping 9-year-old downstairs neighbor, who was struck by the bullet, police said.

Eric Smith somehow shot himself in the foot around 5:45 a.m. in his apartment on the 1900 block of Almaden Road when his .30-06 rifle discharged, said San Jose police Sgt. Enrique Garcia.

The bullet passed through the floor and into the downstairs apartment where it struck the boy who was asleep in bed, police said.

Paramedics rushed the boy, who was not identified, to a hospital where he underwent surgery and was recovering from serious but not life-threatening injuries to his leg, police said. Investigators were working to figure out why Smith allegedly fired the gun.

After being discharged from the hospital, Smith was arrested on suspicion of three felonies, including negligently discharging a firearm, being a felon in possession of a firearm and being a felon in possession of ammunition.

Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky