As his mother prepared the family’s Thanksgiving feast Thursday evening, a toddler and his 4-year-old cousin found a .40 caliber handgun. The older boy picked up the weapon and it discharged, firing a single round through the two-year-old boy’s hand and into his abdomen, police said. On Friday, the victim’s parents —Rachel Santiago and Omar Laboy-Vega, both 34 — were arrested in connection with the accidental shooting in North Philadelphia, 6ABC reported. The mother was charged with child endangerment; her boyfriend is facing firearms violations charges. The wounded child was rushed to Temple University Hospital, and transferred to St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, where he’s listed in critical but stable condition, Philly.com reported. The incident occurred just before 4:30 p.m. Thursday. A neighbor said later she saw the Laboy-Vega, run out of the the house on the 3500 block of North Ninth Street in hysterics, screaming “my baby” several times, crying. Police have declined to give the names of the children involved in the shooting.
Toddler shot in North Philly on Thanksgiving Eve
Screenshot / Google Maps
