Couple Charged With Endangerment In 6-Year-Old's Shooting
PITTSBURGH (KDKA/AP) - Police say a 9-year-old boy was teasing his dog with the laser sight on his sleeping father's pistol before he accidentally shot his 6-year-old brother in the neck at their western Pennsylvania home.
The victim's father and stepmother, Christopher and Crista McNeely, were charged with child endangerment Thursday because police say both knew the father's loaded pistol had been left on a kitchen counter.
Attorneys for the Ford City couple declined to comment on the charges, first reported by the (Kittanning) Leader-Times.
Neither McNeely had anything to say to reporters when they walked out of the Armstrong County jail Thursday.
State police also charged Christopher McNeely with allowing minors to possess firearms and reckless endangerment.
When State Police searched the house, they found several other guns including rifles in the upstairs part of the house, along with 8,600 rounds of ammunition. It was all found in the 9-year-old's bedroom on the floor at the base of his bed. They say none of the guns were secure.
The 6-year-old was critically wounded Aug. 5 but is now in outpatient physical therapy.
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