Mum accidentally shoots 5-year-old son while aiming for dog
A mother has accidentally shot her own son in the abdomen while aiming to hit her neighbour's dog.
On May 29, Angelia Mia Vargas, 24, was out riding bikes down a street in Houston with her five-year-old son and another family member, KTRK reported.
While Vargas was out with her family, a six-month-old boxer named Bruno was barking, his owner opened the door slightly, thinking his brother had arrived at the house.
Bruno then runs out the front door, footage taken from a doorbell and obtained by KTRK shows his owner running after him and calling for him to come back inside.
Gunshots are then heard, then screams.
Officers attached to the Houston Police Department were called the address on Dunham Road in Houston.
In a statement, police said when patrol officers arrived at the address, they learned the boy had been struck in the abdomen by a ricocheting bullet.
"Investigators learned the child’s mother, suspect Vargas, had fired a small caliber pistol three times at a dog running loose across the street," the statement said.
"One of the bullets ricocheted and struck the child."
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Boy taken to hospital after shooting
The five-year-old boy was taken to hospital in a stable condition, police said his injuries were believed to be non-life-threatening.
Bruno was not hurt.
"She could have handled it differently," Bruno's owner told KTRK.
"You know, she was there, her husband was there, I was there, nothing would have happened. Nothing bad like that."
The dog owner says he feels bad for the child and has since had nightmares about the events of that day — waking up from dreams where the boy is crying.
Vargas has been charged for the shooting.
"After consultation with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, Vargas was arrested and charged in this incident, as she had fired across a public roadway and in the direction of two occupied houses," police said.
Police added Bruno's owner was given a citation for the dog running loose.
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