Crime & Safety

Baltimore Police: 4-Year-Old Boy Shot in Face, Dies at Hospital

A boy was in critical condition today after possibly shooting himself in the face with a gun he found inside a home in the 3600 block of Fernhill Ave., police said. Sunday afternoon, police announced the boy died.

UPDATE (5:12 p.m.)—Baltimore City police said a 4-year-old boy who suffered a gunshot wound to the face this morning died from his injuries at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

"He was initially transported to Sinai, and then transferred to JHH," police spokesman Det. Jeremy Silbert said Sunday afternoon.

Police have not yet released the name of the boy, who had been in critical condition this morning.

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"This morning at just before 10:30, officers from our Northwest District responded to a home in the 3600 block of Fernhill Avenue for the report of a shooting," Silbert said at 11:50 a.m. this morning during a press conference near the shooting scene. "When officers arrived, they found a 4-year-old male suffering from a gunshot wound to his face.

"It appears that the child might have found a gun inside of the home. At some point the gun went off. But detectives are on the scene and we are currently investigating," Silbert said.

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The townhome where the shooting occurred is located just across the street from Callaway Elementary School.

Crime-scene tape was set up across the door of the residence, and the street in front of the row of four townhomes was also surrounded by tape. Police officers were seen coming in and out of the residence Sunday morning.

"He is in critical condition at a local hospital," Silbert said. He would not give the name of the hospital.

Since the investigation is so new, not much additional information was available, Silbert said.

"A gun has been recovered by detectives," he said.

However, many questions remain unanswered: What type of gun? Where was it found? Where does the child live? Who found the child injured? And who was in the home at the time of the shooting?

"Certainly we are still looking into the circumstances into the shooting. What we always want to remind people is to take utmost caution if you have a firearm in the house, always keep it unloaded, always keep it in an area that is inaccessible to children."

Neighbors said they saw the boy on Friday playing in the neighborhood with other children.

Neighbor Sherell Shaw said her grandmother woke her up this morning and said, "The little boy was getting in the ambulance." Shaw arrived at the scene as the ambulance was leaving.

"He is a really nice kid," Shaw said. "He's the average little 4-year-old, who likes to play and have fun, that's it.

"A lot of a little kids play together in the court," she added referring to Crossfield Court.

Neighborhood resident John Moody, who came out to the scene, said he was sad to hear the news.

"This should give people a chance to think about securing weapons in the home, and keeping them out of reach of any kids," Moody said. "It's sad, but sometimes it takes things like this to learn."


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