ELMO, Mo. – An infant died on Monday after being shot in the head by his 5-year-old brother.
The 9-month-old boy was shot shortly before 9 a.m. at a home in Elmo, Missouri, according to the Nodaway County Sheriff's Office.
The mother of the two children initially told deputies her 5-year-old son shot the infant in the head with a paintball gun. However after an ambulance arrived, it was determined the infant had been shot in the head with a .22 caliber magnum revolver.
Nodaway County Sheriff Darren White said the loaded gun had been kept on a shelf built into the headboard of the master bed.
The infant was found in a crib in the master bedroom and law enforcement found the gun nearby.
The infant was taken to Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City where he was pronounced dead.
A neighbor and friend of the family told WDAF the mother was home alone with her four boys at the time of the shooting.
"They're a very good family and this was a tragedy. It's a sad deal. I just hope everybody prays for them,"Kathy Armentrout said.
