PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A 12-year-old boy is recovering in the hospital with a bullet wound to the leg. Investigators say the boy, himself, is the one who pulled the trigger.
Police say the boy was shot just after midnight at a location near Ridge Avenue and Cumberland Street. When officers arrived, the boy was sitting on the front steps of a home and bleeding heavily from a gunshot wound below his knee.
Police rushed him to Temple University Hospital, where he was treated and stabilized. He was then transferred to St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, where he is in stable condition.
At the house, police followed a trail of blood from the front door to a bedroom. There, they found a spent bullet and an unused bullet on a bed along with a lot of blood. They also found pizza and French fries. Investigators believe the boy was with at least three other kids in that room.
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A preliminary investigation shows that the 12-year-old shot himself, according to Central Detective Division. It is unclear if he was shot in the bedroom or somewhere else.
Detectives are interviewing all of the boy's friends separately to figure out what exactly happened.
So far this year, the city has nearly 100 gunshot victims under age 18.
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Stay with KYW Newsradio for more as this story develops.