Mom Critical After Son, 8, Finds Unsecured Gun, Fires Shot: Cops

MILLINGTON, TN — A woman was accidentally shot by her 8-year-old son before a baseball game when the boy got a hold of an unsecured gun at an exhibition in the stadium, police said.

According to police in Millington, Tennessee, authorities received a shots fired report around 6:25 p.m. on Tuesday at the U.S.A. Baseball Stadium in Millington. Police arrived on scene and found the woman who had been accidentally shot by her son.

Police said the boy had been playing in a vintage World War II jeep that had been on display as part of a Veterans Appreciation Day at the stadium. According to police, the child found an unsecured handgun inside the jeep and believed it was a toy gun.

Police say the child fired a round that hit his mother. The woman was taken to the hospital and is currently in critical condition.

The mother and son were attending the University of Memphis and University of Tennessee at Martin baseball game for the annual Babe Howard Baseball Classic. About 2,000 people were in attendance at the game.

The game was suspended because of the shooting.

Police have charged the man the gun belonged to with reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon. He was identified by authorities as 76-year-old Charles McFarland Jr., of Atoka, Tennessee.