9-Year-Old Boy Critical After Being Accidentally Shot In Chest By Father

A 9-year-old boy was accidentally shot in the chest by his father during an alleged road rage incident in Texas. He is said to be in critical condition.

The incident took place in Houston’s Fifth Ward on Friday night when the father, who was driving the vehicle with his son inside at the time, believed he was being followed by another car and pulled out a gun, KTRK reported.

The man and his son were able to return home safely without any incident but as the father tried to put the weapon back into its holster, the gun went off accidentally and hit the boy in the chest, the report said.

The child was immediately rushed to a fire station by the father and from there, medics took him to a hospital. The boy was “listed in critical condition but is expected to survive the accidental shooting,” reported ABC News. He is recovering from the gunshot wound at Texas Children’s Hospital.

It is not known if the car was being followed or involved in road rage as claimed by the father. However, the man is not likely to face any criminal charges since the gun went off accidentally, said Houston Police.

The father is said to be cooperating with the police in the investigation.

In a similar incident earlier this month, a 24-year-old Georgia woman accidentally shot her 18-year-old sister in the face. However, in this incident, the woman was arrested and charged with culpable negligence that inflicts personal injury and improper exhibition of firearms. She was held without a bond.

"Thinking the firearm was free of live rounds, Ms. Holt said she went to pass the firearm over to her sister, Ms. Ponder (who was sitting behind the driver), but accidentally shot her," the arrest report stated at the time.

According to the CDC, “seven out of every 10 medically treated firearm injuries are from firearm-related assaults, and 2 out of every 10 are unintentional firearm injuries.”

In 2019, around 486 people died in the U.S. from unintentional firearm injuries. “The economic impact of firearm violence is also substantial. Firearm violence costs the United States tens of billions of dollars each year in medical and lost productivity costs alone,” the agency stated.