Police: Man allegedly lied, hid gun in accidental shooting of 7-year-old

A man has been arrested after allegedly hiding the gun and lying to police and first responders after a 7-year-old boy was accidentially shot in west Shreveport Sunday afternoon.

Anthony Dotie, 29, was arrested Tuesday and faces a charge of child desertion and obstruction of justice.

The Shreveport Police Department offered the following account:

Shreveport Police officers responded around noon Sunday to reports of a 7-year-old boy with a cut to the neck in the 3400 block of Jackson Street. Medics contacted officers to tell them the child had actually been shot.

Investigators learned that a 13-year-old and the 7-year-old under Dotie's care were mimicking a video game and playing with a .22-caliber rifle designed to look like an AR-15. The 13-year-old thought the rifle was an unloaded BB gun and shot the 7-year-old once in the neck.

Dotie, investigators said, concealed the weapon in the closet and told paramedics that the child had been cut on a broken window.

Calls to Marcus Hines and Angie Willhite, Public Information Officers for the department, were not returned before publication.

The 7-year-old was transported to University Health Hospital and was immediately taken into surgery. He remains hospitalized and is said to be in stable condition, according to police. Calls to Bill Strother, spokesperson for University Hospital, were not returned.

Dotie was booked Tuesday into Shreveport City Jail.

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