Police stress gun safety after deadly shooting of 8-month-old baby in Houston

An eight-month-old baby is dead, and police say he was shot by his three-year-old brother at a home in Houston Friday.

It happened around 11 a.m. at the Waterford Grove Apartments on Crestdale Drive.

"Looks like it’s most likely, sadly, occurred by the three-year-old brother of the infant," said Asst. Chief Wendy Bainbridge with Houston Police. "It was just one gunshot to the abdomen, and unfortunately our little one is deceased."

Police say two adults rushed the baby to the hospital where he was pronounced dead after being shot in the stomach in an upstairs bedroom.

A west Houston community was left stunned to learn of the apparent accidental shooting. Houston Police found a gun in the car used to rushed the baby to the hospital.

"It’s sad," said Energy Don, a neighbor in the apartment complex. "It’s sad. It’s sad. All I can do is hold mines close to me. I wish all the best."

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Police took the opportunity to urge parents to avoid a similar tragedy through gun safety.

"I just want to take this moment to plead with parents and guardians all over, to not allow your firearms to be accessible to anyone in the house," said Bainbridge. "Lock them up. There are things that you can do to render that weapon safe."

Parents living nearby echoed the police’s sentiment on gun safety.

"Just make sure that you keep them in a safe, somewhere where your kids can’t get ahold of them," said Teodora Ramirez, a neighbor. "Even my 17-year-old—I wouldn’t trust to leave a gun out. I mean, they get curious."

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"They should have been more responsible," said Don. "You can hit somebody’s car and make a mistake, but that’s heartbreaking. That’s something you can’t come back from. You know what I mean?"

Police have assigned homicide detectives to the case to dig deeper into what happened.