3-Year-Old Shoots Self With Brother’s Handgun

A 3-year-old Los Angeles boy accidentally shot himself in the leg Friday with a handgun kept by his older brother, who was arrested under a new state law, the Sheriff’s Department reported.

The wounded boy suffered a “through and through” wound to his left leg and was in good condition at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, said sheriff’s spokeswoman Irma Becerra. His brother, Carlos Ortiz, 22, was booked at the Firestone sheriff’s station for felony “criminal storage of a firearm,” a new state law that became effective Jan. 1, Becerra said. Ortiz was being held on $5,000 bail.

Paramedics were called about 9 a.m. to the residence where the brothers live with their parents in the 8800 block of South Elm Street, Becerra said. When the shooting occurred, Ortiz and his parents were in another room. The parents were not arrested, Becerra said.