POTTSTOWN — The father of a toddler has been charged after the 2-year-old boy shot himself with his dad’s unsecured gun, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele and Pottstown Police Chief Mick Markovich announced Thursday.
Although the injuries were severe, the child is expected to recover from his wounds, but the father is facing felony charges.
Luis Marin, 34, of the 400 block of West Street, is charged with felony endangering the welfare of a child and recklessly endangering another person after Marin left a loaded handgun unsecured on his bed, which resulted in his son grabbing the firearm and accidentally shooting himself.
A press release issued by Steele and Markovich gave the following account:
On May 15, just before 5 p.m., Pottstown Police were called to Pottstown Hospital for a report of a 2-year-old with a gunshot wound. The boy was transferred to Lehigh Valley Hospital, where hospital personnel informed police that the toddler had been shot, causing injuries that included broken ribs, a fractured scapula and damage to his left lung.
There was also a burn mark and stippling on the boy’s skin, indicative of the firearm being pressed against his skin or in very close contact when the gun was fired.
The subsequent investigation by Pottstown detectives found that just before the shooting, the boy’s father went into a bedroom on the second floor of the home to retrieve a crossbody bag to lend to his nephew. The bag normally held the defendant’s two handguns and ear protection, which Marin removed from the bag and placed on the bed.
Marin then gave the bag to his nephew, who left the house. Marin told police he was sitting on the bed playing on his phone when he heard the gunshot, and then saw his son was shot. He grabbed the boy and ran outside, applying pressure to the wound. The boy’s mother was just arriving home, and they drove the child to Pottstown Hospital.
“This shooting is a frightening reminder to parents that children, even very young children, can and do find unsecured firearms in a home, and their inclination is to play with them. Thankfully, this 2-year-old boy survived the shooting,” Steele said in the release.
Based on an interview with the doctor treating the boy at Lehigh Valley Hospital, the bullet exited the boy’s upper left back just below the shoulder blade, according to the criminal complaint filed by Pottstown police. A doctor told police shrapnel was removed from the exit wound, the complaint states.
Marin turned himself in to Pottstown Police on Sept. 25 and was arraigned on the charges by Magisterial District Judge Jody L. Griffis, who set bail at $50,000 unsecured, with a provision that no firearms be kept in the home.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m., Oct. 8, before Magisterial District Judge Edward C. Kropp Sr.
