Make wishtv.com your home page

Deputies: Dad’s gun discharges while playing with son; both shot in head

Dad’s gun discharges while playing with son; both shot in head

MONROE COUNTY, Ind. (WISH) – A man and his 4-year-old son were shot in the head after a gun discharged in Monroe County.

According to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were called to a residence in the 1200 block of East Zinnia Drive in Bloomington on Sunday, Jan. 19 for a gunshot report.

After arriving on the scene, two people – a 36-year-old man and his 4-year-old son – were found suffering from what appeared to be gunshot wounds to the head.

Deputies said the man was “play wrestling” with his son while carrying a concealed handgun on his back when the gun fell and discharged. The bullet struck both the man and the boy in the head.

Kylie Frye told News 8 she and her husband moved next door about a year ago and since then has become friends with the boy’s mother. On Sunday evening, Frye was alerted by a home monitoring system that police were in the neighborhood.

“We have a camera system and were getting alerts and saw the flashing lights and the ambulance, and I had people texting me that had heard something was going on and then we got word of what happened, that there was an accidental shooting. She actually texted me, because I texted her, and I said, if you need anything let me know, I will do whatever, and she said they were at Riley in Indy,” said Frye.

Both were transported to a nearby hospital in Bloomington but were later flown to Indianapolis hospitals. The father was taken to IU Health Methodist and the child was taken to Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health.

The father is expected to recover. The child remains in critical condition.