A 5-year-old boy accidentally shot himself in the leg with a relative’s gun, police said

A 5-year-old boy accidentally shot himself in the leg with a relative’s gun inside his North Philadelphia home on Wednesday, police said.

Police were called to the 3100 block of North Patton Street shortly after 11:30 a.m., where they found the boy with a gunshot wound to his leg, said Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore. The boy was rushed to Temple University Hospital, where he was in stable condition.

Vanore said investigators believe that the gun was hidden inside a plastic tub in a bedroom in the house, but that the child found it and accidentally pulled the trigger. The child’s mom and grandmother were home at the time of the shooting, he said, as were three other children, ages 1 to 13.

Investigators believe the gun belonged to a parent, Vanore said, but were working to determine the legality of the weapon.

Police are working with the District Attorney’s Office to determine whether any adults will face charges.

On the block, passersby could only shake their heads once they learned why police cars lined the one-way street. Though they were glad to hear the child was stable, they exchanged brief remarks on the overwhelming presence of guns in the city before moving on with their day.

To date, more than 40 children under 18 have been shot in Philadelphia — six fatally — a number that’s been increasing in recent years.

At least three shootings have been accidental, according to police, including ones in which children shot other children with unsecured guns. Just over a week ago, less than a mile away from Wednesday’s incident, a 12-year-old was accidentally shot by his younger brother.

“Someone gets shot, someone gets scared, someone buys a gun,” said Elisha Cooper, an elder at Shalom Baptist Church. “It’s a cycle.”

Cooper stood in front of the home where the shooting took place, accompanied by two of her sons. The trio waited to hear more about the family friends.

Cooper lamented how guns were affecting young people in Philadelphia and beyond. On Tuesday, she attended the funeral of 15-year-old Devin Weedon, who was killed on his way to Simon Gratz Mastery Charter in what police believe to have been an attempted robbery. This weekend she’s slated to attend a ceremony honoring 22-year-old Anthony Byrd, whose younger brother allegedly shot him in Upper Darby during an argument over a basketball game.

“We try to rally together for a little bit but right afterwards we’re back to another young person getting shot,” she said. “It’s the new normal.”