CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. -
A three-year-old child shot himself in the foot Sunday evening in Clarksville.
Police responded to a frantic 911 call at the boy's home on Buttermere Drive around 5 p.m.
According to Clarksville police, the child's mother was in the kitchen when she heard the gunshot.
She found her three-year-old in the living room.
She grabbed the child, took him to the kitchen, applied pressure to the wound and elevated the foot.
The child was airlifted to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. His injuries are not life-threatening.
Investigators believe the boy found the handgun and started to play with it on the couch.
The bullet struck the boy's foot and then hit the couch.
Police said there was a 10-month-old child inside the residence at the time of the shooting.
The investigation is ongoing. Charges were not immediately filed.
Earlier this month, on July 8, a six-year-old child discharged a firearm that was left unattended. The child was not hit and no one else was injured.
"We've told her many times, don't touch a gun. Don't pick up a gun," mother Brandy Imel said.
Imel said her daughter was at another home when the incident occurred.
"She said she was in shock when it went off," she said. "I'm lucky to have her still here unharmed, not hurt."
Police urge residents with firearms to ensure they are properly secured at all times.
