Ottawa County Boy Accidentally Shot In Leg By Older Brother

The Ottawa County Sheriff's Office says a 3-year-old boy is in good condition after he was shot in the leg by his 9-year-old brother.

Deputies say the 3-year-old was taken to a Miami hospital Wednesday morning.  The child has since been taken to a Tulsa hospital. 

According to a news release from the sheriff's office, the boys' mother told deputies she was asleep on the sofa when her older son told her the younger boy had been shot.

The mother and father then drove the child to the emergency room.

Deputies say the 9-year-old opened the family's gun safe by using a key he found in the parents' bedroom.  The boy told deputies the gun accidentally discharged when he was holding it.

Deputies recovered the firearm in question, the empty shell casing, and the bullet, which had traveled through the young victim, through a wall, and into an adjacent room.

Sheriff Terry Durborow says parents with firearms should teach their children proper gun safety, encourages parents and guardians to use gun locks and to store firearms and ammunition separately.