Man Arrested After 2-Year-Old Boy Shoots Himself In Head

Police have arrested a 21-year-old man in connection with a shooting incident that left a toddler in critical condition.

Mohammad Akib Faiyaz, of Boca Raton, Florida was taken into custody Monday afternoon by the U.S. Marshals Task Force and the Port St. Lucie Police Department, reported WPDE.

The shooting happened at the Evergreen Condominium complex on the night of June 11. The officers were alerted about the incident that left the two-year-old boy with a gunshot to his head. The child, known as Baby Ray, was initially rushed to the emergency room at the St. Lucie Medical Center before being transported to Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach.

"I wouldn’t say accidental. I like to use the term negligent better," Port St. Lucie Assistant Police Chief Richard Del Toro told WPBF after Faiyaz's arrest. "Because it was his negligent actions that have led to this situation," he said.

Police said the child's mother met Faiyaz a week before the incident on a social media dating app. She met him in person on the day of the incident and invited him over that night.

However, Faiyaz arrived at the home with a gun, which he put on a table in the living room. The child's mother told him to get the gun out of the room, but he did not.

"She protested to the fact of him having the weapon on him and asked him to get it out of the residence," Del Toro told the publication. "Now, what happened after that, we’re not really sure."

"A short time later, the victim’s mother left the room and heard a gunshot," Del Toro further said. "The child did get access to the weapon and unfortunately was able to discharge the weapon. And it was a self-inflicted gunshot wound."

Faiyaz then drove the woman and the injured child to St Lucie Medical Center before fleeing.

Though he managed to evade the police for over 10 days, he was finally arrested Monday and charged with culpable negligence and carrying a weapon without a license. Officers, however, have not been able to recover his gun yet.

Fortunately, Baby Ray is stable and is all set to start therapy.

Though police say his "long-term prognosis is unclear," early reports said the child has had a second surgery after having a stroke and elevated brain pressure. Doctors had to remove a part of his skull to relieve some of the pressure.