Aurora police search for boy's father after 3-year-old is critically injured when gun goes off in Colorado home
CBS
Police said the child has life-threatening, critical injuries and is being treated at Children's Hospital Colorado. Officers are asking those who pray to pray for his recovery.
"It's crushing, you know. I've seen the kids outside getting into their cars, cute little kids," said Steve, a nextdoor neighbor who asked not to have his last name made public.
Steve said the family moved in about a month ago and began renting the apartment next to him, near East Exposition Avenue and East Centrepoint Drive in Aurora. He said he had only met the father, whom he described as nice and friendly.
"Kids are young. He said it was his fiancée," said Steve, referring to the woman who lived at the home.
On Monday morning, Aurora police said a gun believed to belong to someone in the home went off, critically injuring the 3-year-old boy.
"The mother said that she heard a gunshot in the house and then found the (child) suffering from a gunshot wound. We do not believe at this point that it was self-inflicted. We do believe that there was someone in the house that was possibly playing with the firearm when the boy was shot," said Agent Matthew Longshore with Aurora police.
The child's mother rushed him to Kaiser Permanente Urgent Care, located a block away. Steve, who had just returned from the gun range, came home to a chaotic scene.
"When I came home, there were a lot of cop cars here. I had no idea. I've heard lots of arguing, lots of profanity, lots of screaming, lots of yelling at the kids," Steve said.
Steve said his adult son was home at the time of the shooting but had headphones on and did not hear anything.
Gun violence and gun safety are personal issues for Steve. His other son died by suicide in 2018.
"It's devastating to hear that because I know what it was like when I found my son with a gun in his hand," Steve said.
Police said the boy's father left the home in a car after the shooting. They are now searching for him. It remains unclear whether the shooting was accidental.
"We want to figure out how dad was involved and why it is he left. Was it him manipulating the firearm? Or did he leave the firearm out, and another kid grabbed the firearm and fired the shot?" Longshore said.
As of Monday afternoon, Aurora police had taped off the apartment as a crime scene and were waiting for a search warrant to go inside. Investigators said they are working to uncover what happened as the young boy continues to fight for his life.
Police said the child's grandmother was also taken to the hospital for a non-gunshot-related medical emergency following the incident.
Police say there were two other children in the home. Authorities believe one is at the hospital with the grandmother and the other is with the father, whom they are actively searching for but have not identified as a suspect.
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