US News

5-year-old shot and critically wounded 3-year-old

A 5-year-old boy in Colorado shot and critically wounded a 3-year-old girl when he got his hands on a gun that belonged to her mother’s boyfriend.

The boy was playing in the backyard of a home in Pueblo, about 100 miles south of Denver, Monday morning when he pointed a handgun directly at the young girl and playfully pulled the trigger, according to Reuters.

Luckily, the single bullet went straight through the little girl’s body without breaking any bones, and she was airlifted to a hospital in Colorado Springs, cops told Reuters.

She has had surgery and is listed in critical but stable condition.

The boy had received the pistol from a 9-year-old boy who police said somehow lifted it from the boyfriend of the girl’s mother. They added that he was knowingly toying with the gun in the backyard before he handed it off to the younger boy.

“When the 9-year-old was asked how he was able to manipulate the handgun, he said he learned it from video games like Black Ops,” police said in a statement.

Because of their ages, the two boys will not receive any punishment for the shooting, according to Reuters.

The boyfriend, Adrian Chavez, 22, initially fled the scene, but was later captured and charged with child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury for the gun that was left unattended, according to police.

Cops are still trying to figure out exactly how the 9-year-old got the gun from Chavez.