Dallas police officers are investigating how a 6-year-old boy got his hands on a loaded handgun and shot himself in the middle of a church parking lot Saturday evening.
It happened in the 11400 Ferguson Road, near the Dallas and Garland city borders.
According to the police report, it started as part of a custody exchange just after 8:00 p.m. Then the boy climbed into a car belonging to 24-year-old William Ross of Dallas and found a loaded gun.
Police said the child picked up the gun, pulled the trigger and shot himself in the chest. He remains in critical condition at Children's Medical Center Dallas. His boy's name has not been released.
Police arrested Ross. They said he left the gun easily accessible for the child to find. He's being charged with injury to a child - serious bodily injury.
Ross is being held on a $15,000 bond in the Dallas County Jail.
Police have not told NBC DFW the relationship between Ross and the injured child.
