Toddler critically injured after suspect discards gun on daycare playground in Las Vegas

US police cordon tape seals off an active crime scene. Photo / Getty Images

A toddler in Las Vegas was hospitalised in critical condition after finding a gun on a daycare playground that had been discarded by a teenager who was fleeing after opening fire on a city bus, authorities announced.

Deputy Police Chief Reggie Rader said the toddler, who is under the age of 5, “found the firearm, picked it up, and the firearm discharged.”

Rader said the toddler was in stable but critical condition as of the same afternoon.

Police officers found the suspect in the area of the daycare in northeastern Las Vegas and took him into custody. Rader did not identify the suspect, who he said is younger than 18.

Emailed requests for comment weren’t immediately returned by the corporate office for the only daycare centre located on the street where police said the shooting happened. A woman who answered the phone at the daycare told The Associated Press that she couldn’t talk about the shooting.

Rader said it wasn’t immediately clear what charges the teenager will face, but the police department was consulting with the local district attorney’s office about “all applicable charges” and whether he will be charged as an adult.

The teenager had been running from the city bus when he jumped over a wall and into the daycare’s playground area, authorities said.

Rader said the teenager had gotten into an argument with a man on the bus, pulled out a gun and shot him. That man was also hospitalized and was in stable condition, Rader said.