3-year-old Clayton boy shoots self in stomach

A 3-year-old Forest Park boy is in critical condition after shooting himself in the stomach, police said.

The toddler was inside his home at Brentwood Manor apartments on Old Dixie Highway around 11 p.m. Sunday when he got the 9 mm semiautomatic pistol, according to a Clayton County Police report.

His mother Marquita Taylor, another woman and his brother were asleep inside the apartment, the report states.

The boy shot himself in the stomach, Clayton County Police spokeswoman Lt. Rebecca Brown said.

The gun went off in his bedroom, penetrated the wall and went into the hallway, according to the report.

Taylor told police she awoke to the gunshot and found her son with blood covering his shirt.

Officers found the mother holding the boy, who was bleeding and wrapped in a blanket. He was conscious and crying, officers said.

Paramedics rushed the boy to Southern Regional Medical Center. He was later transferred to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston, where he remains in critical condition, Brown said.

Police have not released the boy’s name.

As of Monday afternoon, no charges have been filed. Brown said investigators believe the shooting was self-inflicted and do not anticipate charging the mother.

Taylor could not be reached for comment.

Officers seized the pistol from a bin full of clothing, a 9 mm shellcasing from the child’s room and the boy’s blood-covered shirt.