A 7-year-old Bronx boy who accidentally shot himself in the finger found the gun in his pistol-packing dead aunt’s bedroom, prosecutors said Thursday.
The child found the loaded .25-caliber pistol hidden behind a dresser in the bedroom around 6:50 a.m. on Sunday, according to court records.
After the gun went off, shattering the bones in the child’s finger, the victim’s father secured the gun, but didn’t immediately tell police about it.
Investigators ultimately found the weapon, though, and charged the father, Willie Terry, 61, with reckless endangerment and gun possession.
The victim was taken to Jacobi Medical Center and is expected to recover.
After the child was treated, police found the gun in the front foyer of the home on E. 230th St. near Bronxwood Ave. in Wakefield.
Terry told police that he had never seen the gun before his son was wounded by it, but “knew his deceased sister to have had firearms in the past when she was alive,” according to court papers.
He admitted to police that the boy found the gun behind the dresser and shot himself in the dead aunt’s bedroom. Terry took the gun and secured it before police were called.
Terry was enrolled in a supervised release program during a brief arraignment proceeding Thursday, sparing him any jail time as his case wends its way through Bronx Criminal Court.
Terry has 12 prior arrests, with his most recent bust occurring eight years ago for assault, police sources said.
