A five-year-old girl in Harris County, Texas, may have accidentally shot herself after finding a gun, according to local authorities.
Deputies responded to a call on the evening of October 19 and determined that the child had found the gun in the home, and may have unintentionally fired it, injuring herself in the process, according to a Facebook post from the Harris County Sheriff's Office.
The child was taken to the hospital to undergo surgery, and she is now in fair condition and is expected to survive her injuries.
Her stepfather, Jason Nguyen, 33, has been arrested, accused of felon in possession of a weapon, and possession of a controlled substance, per the statement. He was reportedly booked into Harris County Jail.
Newsweek has reached out to the Harris County Sheriff's Department for comment via email.
Authorities said there were other children and adults in the home when the incident occurred, but did not specify if there were other injuries.
The statement did not specify where the child was injured, or how she found the gun in the home.
Court records obtained by Fox26 show that Nguyen was previously convicted of multiple felonies, including felon in possession of a weapon in 2014.
He was also reportedly charged with felon in possession of a weapon again in August and was out on bond when the incident occurred.
An investigation into the circumstances of the incident is ongoing.
Speaking of Nguyen's impending charges, Andy Kahan, a member of the Texas Crime Stoppers, told Fox26, "It's going to be interesting to see what happens now. To see what they can charge him with criminally."
He continued, "Obviously yet another felon in possession of a weapon, but, there could be some more serious charges like injury to a child and maybe even aggravated assault."
Unintentional shootings by children are common. So far this year there have been at least 200 unintentional shootings by children which resulted in 74 deaths and 128 injuries across the country, according to Everytown for Gun Safety.
Unintentional shootings by children increased from 355 in 2022 to 411 in 2023.
The CDC also found that self-inflicted injuries accounted for 37.8 percent of childhood unintentional firearm deaths overall, with the majority of injuries affecting children aged zero to five years old.
The most common reason child victims of unintentional firearm injuries became injured was because they were playing with a gun or showing it to another individual.
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