The shooting of a 3-year-old boy Sunday in a Birmingham apartment appears to be self-inflicted, police said Monday.
Birmingham police initially reported that it appeared shots fired from outside the residence at Forest Hills Village entered the bedroom of the child and struck him in the leg.
Sgt. LaQuitta Wade on Monday said investigators now believe the child accidentally shot himself.
Just before 8 a.m., West Precinct officers responded to the apartment complex on Tempest Drive on a report of a shooting.
Once inside the apartment, they found the child with a gunshot wound to his leg. Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service rushed him to Children’s of Alabama.
His injury was not life-threatening, said Officer Truman Fitzgerald.
Family members told police they were inside the apartment when someone fired shots into the unit from outside.
“They heard shots and noticed that their 3-year-old child was screaming,’’ he said. It was then they realized he had been shot.
There were bullet holes in the walls of the apartment, Fitzgerald said.
Officers arriving at the complex saw a man running away and they gave chase. That man was detained trying to climb over a fence.
A second man was then taken into custody.
Fitzgerald said officers found a gun near a vehicle.
Wade on Monday said both men taken into custody were questioned and released.
The investigation is ongoing. Wade said it’s unclear if charges will be filed.
