MERRILLVILLE, IN (WLS/CNN) – Police said a 3-year-old girl accidentally shot her pregnant mother on Tuesday.
Now the mother's boyfriend is in police custody.
Merrillville police said the woman and her two children were sitting in a car outside a Plato’s Closet store when the shooting happened.
The woman’s boyfriend, 21-year-old Menzo Brazier, left his 9mm handgun on the center console before he walked into the store.
The woman’s 3-year-old daughter grabbed the gun and it went off. The bullet went through the seat and hit the woman in her right shoulder.
“We just heard screaming,” said Hadassah Zirkle, a Plato's Closet employee. “We ran outside with a bunch of other people. Someone said someone was hurt and bleeding."
The woman, who police said is six weeks pregnant, was taken to a hospital for treatment. She’s now in critical but stable condition.
A 1-year-old child was also in the backseat of the car, police said. The children have been placed in the custody of the Indiana Department of Child Services.
Brazier is charged with child endangerment.
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