BATON ROUGE, La. — The father of a 3-year-old who is in critical condition after accidentally shooting himself in the head with a gun hidden in a couch has been arrested.
Local media reported Monday that the shooting happened Sunday evening. Authorities arrested Deetroy Watkins, 27, on charges of illegally possessing a firearm and negligent injury. It was not immediately known if Watkins had a lawyer.
Watkins told authorities that he was in another room in the home when he heard a loud noise and rushed into the living room to find that his 3-year-old son had found a gun that was hidden in the couch cushions and shot himself in the head. A neighbor helped drive the boy to the hospital, local media reported.
According to authorities, Watkins said a friend had left the gun in the couch cushions a few days ago.
