CLEVELAND, Ohio — A 3-year-old boy accidentally shot himself Thursday with an illegal gun owned by his father, according to police.

The 31-year-old man, who has several prior felony convictions for drug trafficking and illegally possessing a gun with a felony record, has not been formally charged with a crime in his son’s shooting as of Friday morning.

He was arrested on suspicion of possessing a weapon as a felon, child endangering and improperly furnishing a weapon to a minor.

The man told police he knew it was against the law to own a gun, but that he bought one at the beginning for 2019 because he “wanted it for protection,” according to police.

The shooting happened about 7 p.m. Thursday at the man’s home on West 38th Street near Robert Avenue in the city’s Clark-Fulton neighborhood.

The man told police he left his loaded gun on top of the refrigerator and walked upstairs. The 3-year-old boy told police he found the gun on the couch, according to police reports.

The boy also told police he accidentally shot himself in the left leg. Several other children were inside the home at the time of the shooting.

The boy’s father heard the gunshot, saw his son crying and drove him to MetroHealth, where police arrested the boy’s father. The boy is expected to make a full recovery, police said.

Officers found the loaded handgun sitting on a couch that had a bullet hole.

The boy’s father has prior convictions for drug trafficking in 2011, possessing a weapon with a felony record in 2008 and carrying a concealed weapon in 2007.

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