An investigation is underway in Akron after officers were told a 10-year-old boy was shot in the face.
“What we’re not certain of (is) if the victim of this incident was the one that pulled the trigger or if the friend did it," said Lt. Michael Murphy.
At this time, the status of the young boy is unknown after Murphy said he and a friend were playing around with what they thought was an unloaded gun.
That’s when Murphy said the victim got accidentally shot in the face and was taken to the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
“This is something that could’ve ended tragically. We’re very fortunate that the young man wasn’t injured to a greater extent than he currently is," said Murphy.
News 5 asked what if the friend was the one who accidentally pulled the trigger.
“That’s something that we would have to examine. There could potentially be charges there," said Murphy.
But Murphy said it’s too early to say until they speak to the victim and clear conflicting statements.
Meantime, Murphy said investigators are busy trying to piece it all together following multiple calls of a shooting in the 400 block of Palmetto Avenue in Akron around 12:30 p.m. on Sunday.
“He’s bleeding from his mouth,” said one 911 caller.
Meanwhile, another caller asked for immediate help.
“We need ambulance. We need ambulance, a little kid was shot,” said another caller. “They over here screaming.”
When officers arrived, Murphy said they learned the young boy had walked less than a block away to the fire station to get help.
News 5 asked what led the young man and his friend to decide to walk to the fire station.
“That I don’t know, and I don’t know if they even got a statement to figure out what led them there," said Murphy.
News 5 asked Murphy if any parents or guardians were around when the shooting happened, and he said there may have been another adult there, but not close to the victim and his friend.
“We were told that there may have been another person that brought the firearm to this young man. That’s something we’re trying to work through to verify that account of the story is correct. But I think that the parents are concerned and trying to piece this together themselves," said Murphy.
Anyone with information is asked to call the police at 330-375-2490.
