Child thought he was playing with toys, but the gun he shot was real, police say

A child thought he was playing with toy guns he found in a pile at a Wichita home, but the one he picked up turned out to be real when he pulled the trigger, officials said.

Police were called to the 1400 block of East Pike, near Lincoln and Hydraulic, at around 8:20 p.m. on Monday for a reported shooting. A dispatch supervisor said one person was taken to a hospital in critical condition.

A man in his 20s was shot and taken to a hospital, but the extent of his injury is unknown, Wichita police Sgt. Robert Henning said.

“We had some friends and family over for a meal, and one of the kids picked up a couple guns and was playing toy guns with them and one of the guns happened to be a real gun,” Henning said. “We got lucky and the kid ended up not getting shot, but the person next to the kid ended up getting hit with one round. It’s obviously an accidental shooting.”

There was one real gun — a handgun — next to a pile of toy guns, Henning said. The child, who is younger than 10 years old, picked up both a toy gun and the real gun.

There does not appear to be any criminal activity, police said. Neither the child nor the man who was shot lived at the home.

This story was originally published September 24, 2018 at 8:43 PM.