4-Year-Old kid Accidentally Shoots His Toddler Cousin, Parents Charged

A Philadelphia couple are facing criminal charges after their 4-year-old shot his 2-year-old cousin with a .40 caliber handgun leaving the toddler in critical condition.

The two children were playing in the living room at the family's house in North Philadelphia when the unfortunate accident happened shortly before Thanksgiving dinner. The four-year-old boy was playing with a the semi-automatic handgun he had found in the house when he accidentally fired it.

"The mother was preparing Thanksgiving dinner when the two kids were playing with the gun," Police Chief Inspector Scott Small told reporters.

The two-year-old boy was taken to the St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, where he was listed as being in a critical but stable condition.

Both parents were charged with endangering the welfare of a child, while the father is also facing charges of illegal possession of a weapon as two guns were retrieved from the house.

According to Gun Violence Archive, a website that keeps track of shootings, a total of 620 children have been killed or injured in over 51,000 cases across the US this year alone.