A Pottstown man has been charged after, officials said, his two-year-old son shot himself in the chest with a handgun that the father had left on a bed in their home.
According to the offices of Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele and Pottstown Police Chief Mick Markovich, Luis Marin, 34, of Pottstown, has been apprehended on charges of endangering the welfare of a child and recklessly endangering another person related to leaving a loaded firearm unsecured on his bed, which resulted in his two-year-old son obtaining the firearm and shooting himself.
The incident, law enforcement officials said, happened on May 15, 2024, just before 5 p.m., when police were called to a hospital in Pottstown after a toddler showed up there with a gun shot wound.
Officials said the boy suffered broken ribs, a fractured scapula and damage to his left lung.
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"There was also a burn mark and stippling on the boy’s skin, indicative of the firearm being pressed against his skin or in very close contact when the gun was fired," officials said in a statement on the arrest.
An investigation, law enforcement officials said, found that Marin had left a handgun on the bed in their home after he took two handguns out of a bag that he lent to another family member.
That family member had borrowed the bag and left the home, when Marin was playing on his phone and heard a gunshot, officials said.
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Marin saw that his son was shot and rushed outside, keeping pressure on the wound, when they met up with the boy's mother, who was just arriving home from work, and they all rushed to a hospital, officials said.
“This shooting is a frightening reminder to parents that children, even very young children, can and do find unsecured firearms in a home, and their inclination is to play with them. Thankfully, this 2-year-old boy survived the shooting,” said Steele in a statement.
Officials said that Marin turned himself in to Pottstown Police on Sept. 25, 2024, and was arraigned on the current charges by Magisterial District Judge Jody L. Griffis, who set bail at $50,000 unsecured, with a provision that no firearms be kept in the home.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Marin on Oct. 8, 2024.
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