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A 4-year-old boy was shot in a car at 9:30 p.m. Thursday, March 24, 2016, at the Village Market in the 7700 block of Second Avenue South.

(Birmingham Police)

A 4-year-old boy was shot in the head Thursday night with a gun left in a car while his mother was inside a store.

The incident happened about 9:30 p.m. at the Village Market in the 7700 block of Second Avenue South. Birmingham police spokesman Sgt. Bryan Shelton said the mother left her children in the car. One of the children, believed to be the boy's older sister, found the gun, picked it up and it discharged.

Shelton said the bullet grazed the boy's skull but did not enter the skull. He is listed in stable condition at Children's of Alabama.

"If you choose to own a gun you have to be safety minded and exercise a higher standard of care,'' Shelton said. "We're glad he's OK."

Shelton said no charges are expected in the case.