3-Year-Old Shoots Man Wanted For Murder, Leading To His Arrest: Police

A 3-year-old child shot and injured two people in Indiana Thursday, which led to the arrest of a 23-year-old man wanted for murder in Illinois.

Trayshaun Smith was arrested Thursday after he visited a hospital with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound, ABC News reported, citing Lt. Justin Hartman of the Lafayette Police Department.

Investigators determined that Smith and the child's mother, identified by ABC 7 as 21-year-old Jalynn Artis, of Gary, were shot after her 3-year-old was able to gain access to a gun at an apartment complex in Lafayette, Indiana, and fire a single round.

"It was determined that a 3-year-old child at that location accessed a gun and fired one round striking two people," Hartman stated.

Police did not say how the child was able to access the gun or what type of weapon was used.

Officers responded to the Franciscan Health Lafayette East Hospital, where the two victims were being treated for non-life-threatening injuries after the shooting, according to Hartman.

Hartman confirmed that the second shooting victim was the child's mother and that Smith was a friend of hers.

During the investigation, authorities determined that Smith was wanted in a murder case.

As a result, Smith, a resident of Lafayette, was arrested on an active murder warrant from neighboring Cook County, Illinois.

The Lafayette Police Department said that it is now coordinating with police in Markham, Illinois, regarding the arrest of the 23-year-old. No other detail about the arrest was disclosed.

This comes not long after a 4-year-old child accidentally shot his 1-year-old brother after finding a gun inside a Texas home earlier this week.

According to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, deputies responded to a weapon disturbance in East Harris County at around 4:25 p.m. Tuesday.

The 4-year-old discovered an unsecured pistol and ended up accidentally shooting his younger sibling. The 1-year-old was rushed to a hospital and was treated for a non-life-threatening injury, Gonzalez said.

The father of the kids said that the 4-year-old loved to play with toy guns and likely did not realize that he had found a real gun, KTRK-TV reported.

The father told ABC13 that the gun allegedly belonged to a relative staying at the home but was not present at the house when the shooting happened.

"I want to take this time to remind the community to be responsible when it comes to weapons," Maj. Saul Suarez of the Harris County Sheriff's Office stated. "Make sure that you're securing them, especially when there's children in the house."