10-year-old shot in head in Dade City

DADE CITY (FOX 13) - A 10-year-old boy was hospitalized after being shot in the head at a home in Dade City.

Pasco County deputies say it appears to be an accident that happened when he was home alone with another boy.

Officials say he was alert and talking when he was taken to the hospital. Now, the focus shifts to where that gun came from, and who pulled the trigger.

The home is located on Center Street near the intersection of Old Sparkman Road.  Neighbor Amirani Luna was at her home Monday afternoon, when she heard a knock at the door. "

We went to the back door and the kid said, 'Um I got shot'," Luna said.

Luna said a 9-year-old was standing there with his 10-year-old brother, who had injuries to his head.

"I seen a little hole right here in his right cheek and in the back, it was bleeding through the his ear," Luna said. "He was bleeding but he wasn't crying. He was OK."

She called 911, while another woman, a nurse, put pressure on the wound. The boy was taken to the hospital as a trauma alert.

"It was scary. I actually felt like I wanted to cry. It's sad," Luna said.

The Pasco County Sheriff's Office believes it was all an accident. They say the two boys were home alone at the time when the 10-year-old was shot. Whose gun it was, how they got it, and who fired it was not clear.

"They got their hands on a gun and at that point, we are still investigating what happened," Pasco County Sheriff's Office Spokesperson Melanie Show said.

What is clear is their message to all gun owners.

"Lock up your guns and make sure your kids don't have access to them because this happens way too often and it's a preventable thing," Snow said.

"I want to know how it happened," Luna said, "Wow did they get to the gun, how did they know where it was?"

Luna, who's known the boys since they were small, is just thankful this didn't end as badly as it could have.

"I just want him to be okay," Luna said. "I want his parents to be okay, too, because I am sure it is hard for them than me."

Per standard procedure, Child Protective Investigations is now involved in the case. Though the shooting appears to be accidental, there are a lot of questions to be answered, which, Snow said, could potentially lead to neglect charges down the road.