Toddler shot in head, killed in Olney

A 2-year-old boy was shot in the head, possibly by accident, and killed Thursday in Philadelphia's Olney section, police said

The shooting happened about 2:15 p.m. in a  house on the 200 block of West Godfrey Avenue, police said. The child, whose name was withheld, was rushed by his father to Einstein Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 2:29 p.m.

Homicide Capt. John Ryan said the boy was shot in the basement of the rowhouse.

"It appears to be, at this point, self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, and another tragic case of an unsecured firearm in a house being found by kids, and then we have a tragedy," Ryan told reporters outside the scene.

Police later recovered a handgun, reportedly in the back yard.

Who owned the weapon and whether it was legal has not yet been reported.

"There were a number of family members present in the house" when the shooting occurred, Ryan said, adding that it was not known if the boy was alone in the basement.

"There's still a lot of work to be done and interviews to be conducted to find out what exactly happened here," Ryan said.

As night fell, Godfrey Avenue was jammed with rush-hour traffic through the largely residential block. Several neighbors who answered their doors said they did not know the family.

All the lights were on inside the house but no one exited or entered except for police and a crime-scene investigator.