A 9-year-old boy was accidentally shot in the head by his 2-year-old sibling, leading to the children's parents being arrested in Phoenix, Arizona.
According to Phoenix Fire Department Capt. Reda Bigler, the child was shot just before 3 p.m. local time on Monday.
A Phoenix Police Department spokesman said the child was taken to the hospital in extremely critical condition. Police originally reported the child died from his injuries, but said Tuesday that he remained on life support and is not expected to survive.
Police say there were three other children in the home at the time of the shooting, along with 28-year-old Wendy Lavarnia, their mother.
Lavarnia told investigators that she placed a loaded gun on the bed and went to retrieve a holster. When she returned, she saw that her 2-year-old child was holding the gun and her 9-year-old son had been shot.
A man who later pulled up to the house asked police officers, "What happened to my kid?," and was placed in handcuffs. Officials on the scene confirmed the man is the victim's father and later identified him as 31-year-old Kansas Lavarnia.
#BREAKING man who said "what happened to my kid" placed into handcuffs at shooting scene by @phoenixpolice @abc15 pic.twitter.com/TvFLp340hu
— Joe Bartels (@Joe_Bartels) March 21, 2017
Authorities said the incident remains under investigation.
Wendy Lavarnia was booked into jail on four counts of child abuse for endangering her children with the loaded gun. Kansas Lavarnia was booked into jail on one count of being a prohibited possessor of a gun in the home.
