US: 3-year-old boy shoots parents inside motel room

Photo / File

A three-year-old has shot his father and pregnant mother inside a motel room in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The boy was able to remove a loaded handgun from his mother's purse, before shooting his father in the lower backside on Saturday.

The bullet then exited the man's body and struck the pregnant woman in the shoulder, according to local police.

Both parents were treated at a nearby hospital. The father has since been released, but the mother, who is eight months pregnant, was hospitalised.

She is believed to be in a stable condition, however the condition of her unborn baby is unknown.

Robb Robillard, who was staying at the motel when the shooting occurred, said that it was "scary" a three-year-old was the culprit.

"I came out of the room and saw police officers downstairs and I came down the stairs and saw a whole bunch of cop cars," he told KRQE News 13.

"I think everybody should have the right to own guns, but you need a lock on them too, especially when kids are around," he added.

A two-year-old girl was found by police in the room, but she was not injured. The children have been placed in the custody of the Children Youth and Families Department for a minimum of 48 hours.

Local animal control officials were also called to remove two pit bulls that were discovered in the motel room.

Police said that the parents could face charges of criminal negligence for allowing a loaded gun to get into the possession of a child.

The District Attorney's office will be notified and will decide whether to press charges.

The case is strikingly similar to a shooting in December last year, when a woman, 29, was fatally shot by her two-year-old son in an Idaho Walmart, after he found a gun in his mother's handbag.

- Independent