A little boy is in critical condition tonight at Children's Hospital with a gunshot wound to the head. 9 year old Sebastian Swartz was shot yesterday just before four o'clock in the afternoon in his home in the small community of Decatur in Brown County.
Local 12's Rich Jaffe has a look at what investigators believe may have led to this terrible accident.
Investigators tell Rich this was not the first time Sebastian had shown a fascination with his dad's nine millimeter. Making the Glock handgun even more interesting for the child is the fact that it was equipped with a laser site...which makes it look even more like a toy. The laser shoots a beam of light much like a pointer that shows where the bullet will hit.
Tragically, Sebastian's 14 year old sister saw him playing with the gun, and tried to take it away from him. The family recently moved into the tiny home in Decatur, just two doors away from this market. Firefighter Danny Hicks was outside the market when he heard the commotion. "The neighbor kids came out running through the parking lot yelling help help."
Knowing an EMT lived next door, Hicks sprang into action. "As I jumped I seen the mother standing up next to the residence holding her son, kind of limp body in her arms and screaming help my babies been shot."
Calling 911, Hicks helped Sebastian's mom get to the EMT. A few minutes later Sebastian was in a helicopter headed to Children's Hospital with a gunshot wound to the head.
The Glock handgun has no manual safety like many other handguns...pull the trigger and it fires. Possibly making it even more attractive to the little boy was the laser sight.
Investigators say his 14 year old sister was trying to take the gun away from him when it went off. "You have something that points a red beam, or green or whatever color it is and somebody's not around to watch over it and something's sitting out readily available it's gonna attract kids attention."
Brown County Chief Deputy John Schadle says this is not a gun issue, it's a safety issue. "We've had a lot of tragedies in this country with children getting hurt, and you can point your finger at guns but you can also point your finger at motorcycles,four wheelers, lawn mowers,power tools and hundreds of other items. It boils down to either the mis-use or the lack of supervision of these particular tools and a gun is basically a tool."
Gun locks, gun safes, are all easily accessible-in fact many law enforcement agencies give gun locks away free.
Sebastian's father is a retired military police officer and very familiar with the handgun. He told police he usually keeps it unloaded but not this time.
Sebastian underwent extensive surgery last night at this point his condition is critical.
