Boy, 11, shoots self while playing with gun

An 11-year-old boy accidentally shot himself in the head with a gun at an apartment just west of downtown.

The boy found the handgun in a drawer and began playing with it Friday morning at The Terraces at Haven for Hope, 703 N. San Marcos, San Antonio police said.

Police Chief William Mcmanus said it appears the boy didn’t know the gun was loaded and inadvertently shot himself.

The boy was taken to an area hospital conscious and breathing, the chief said.

Police said investigators are talking to the boy’s parents.

“I believe the dad thought the gun was secured or secluded at least,” Mcmanus said. “He didn’t realize that (the son) would get it, but he did.”

Investigators also planned to interview four other boys, friends of the injured boy, who were present when the gun was fired to determine whether their accounts of the incident are consistent with those of the adults.

Mcmanus did not say what charges, if any, will be filed. The incident remains under investigation.

The Texas penal code contains the charge of “making a firearm accessible to a child,” though it appears to be rarely applied. It is classified as a Class C misdemeanor and may be upgraded to a Class A misdemeanor if a weapon discharged by a child causes death or serious bodily injury to the child or another person.

Also, the law states that in the case of a child dying or being severely injured from firing a weapon, a family member suspected of making the weapon accessible can’t be arrested until seven days after the incident.

David Plylar, a gun safety advocate with Be Smart for Kids who regularly talks with parents and children about securing their weapons, said hearing about Friday’s shooting makes him “very angry.”

“There’s a lot of people out there who think that kids won’t

find their gun if they hide it,” Plylar said. “But kids will find them just like they find a Christmas present before Christmas.”

In an event that was planned before Friday’s incident, Be Smart for Kids was at Phillis Wheatley Park from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. focusing on children’s safety and firearms. The organization was handing out free cable locks capable of securing a wide range of guns.

The event was organized in partnership with Big Mama’s Safe House, a nonprofit operating on the East Side that seeks to reduce gun violence by confronting its root causes.

Plylar said children are often exposed to guns in everyday culture but that they’re not explained the severity of the danger firearms pose.

The Terraces, where the incident occurred, is a four-story, gated complex that houses graduates of the Haven for Hope campus as well as low-income residents from across the city. The complex was built via partnership between Haven, the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, and The NRP Group.