TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) - Tucson police arrested a man in connection on suspicion of shooting a 7-year-old boy in the back late Wednesday afternoon in an apartment complex near Bilby and Campbell.
Police say 23-year-old Francisco Fernandez will face charges of aggravated assault, child abuse, prohibited possessor and a felony probation warrant.
TPD's Child Physical Abuse Unit say the victim was with his family visiting his aunt and Fernandez, her boyfriend, who shot the boy while he was handling the gun. Police are not looking for anyone else involved.
A witness says family members initially tried to take the boy to the hospital, but police arrived and rendered aid until firefighters could transport him. He was hospitalized in critical condition, but after surgery police say he is stable.
Tucson police say the 7 year old boy who was shot is out of surgery and stable.
— Keaton Thomas KGUN9 (@keaton_thomas) April 28, 2016
"Regardless of if its an adult or child, we still have to follow our protocols to figure out exactly what happened. Right now we're trying to determine if this is an accidental shooting or if it's on purpose and it's going to take some time for the investigators to get to the bottom of this," said Dugan.
