Detroit, Mich. — A 38-year-old Detroit father was arraigned Saturday in 36th District Court on safe-storage and felony-firearm charges after a child was shot in the face with an unsecured handgun on the city west side.
Police responded about 2:15 p.m. Oct. 7 to a home in the 8000 block of Artesian Street and found an 11-year-old on the living room floor with a gunshot wound to the face, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said the child 8-year-old sibling found an unsecured handgun and fired it, and that the father had left three children ages 4 to 11 unattended in the home at the time.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy urged residents to safely store firearms at all times, saying the office has pressed the message for more than a decade through education and legislation.
The 11-year-old remained in critical condition after being taken to a hospital, and the father is scheduled for a probable cause hearing on Oct. 26.
Michigan law makes it illegal for an adult to possess a firearm in a home without securing it when young people are also present, a rule enacted after a 2022 ballot measure on safe storage.
