A young Chester boy has been hospitalized after being shot as a family member handled a stolen gun.
The 8-year-old was inside a second floor bedroom inside his home along the 500 block of Norris Street in Chester, Pa. around 5:15 p.m. on Thursday evening when the 9mm Ruger went off, police said.
The boy was hit once in the left buttock and rushed to Crozer-Chester Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries, according to police. He was later transferred to The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia as a precaution.
Chester Police Commissioner Joseph Bail said the gun was previously reported stolen from another Chester home.
A 19-year-old family member was arrested and will be charged with Recklessly Endangering Another Person and Receiving Stolen Property, according to police.
Bail said the teen does not have a prior record and that the child is part of a "good family" but added that "bad things happen to good families when illegal guns are brought into the home."
Neighbor Pam Hood echoed the commissioner's words saying the mother is hard-working.
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"I send my prayers out to them because she's a very good person," Hood said. "She takes care of her kids, that's all I can say."
Officials are withholding the 19-year-old's name until he is officially charged.
