WARREN (WWJ) — An 8-year-old boy who shot himself in the face after getting ahold of an unsecured gun inside his family’s Warren apartment remains in “extremely critical condition.”
The boy’s father, 56-year-old Theo Nichols, was charged Monday under Michigan’s new safe storage law, the first such case in Macomb County.
Nichols was charged with second-degree child abuse, two safe storage violations — one a felony and one a misdemeanor — and one count of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.
On Wednesday Warren police officials and Macomb County Prosecutor Pete Lucido released more details surrounding the case.
Lt. John Gajewski said Nichols admitted to investigators that he bought the gun “from the street” for protection, as his previous conviction for drugs prohibits him from legally owning a handgun.
The boy's parents, 6-year old sister, and twin infant siblings were in the apartment last Friday afternoon when the boy climbed a chair and grabbed a loaded, unlocked, 40-caliber Glock pistol from atop a kitchen cabinet and shot himself, officials said Wednesday. No one else was injured in the incident.
“No safes, lockboxes or gun locks were utilized or located anywhere inside this apartment,” Gajewski said.
If convicted, Nichols could face up to 10 years in prison.
Back in February, the safe storage law was one of four new gun reform laws to go on Michigan’s books.
The safe storage law requires people to keep any firearms being stored or left unattended on a premises unloaded and either locked with a trigger-locking mechanism or stored in a locked storage container.
More information on Michigan’s new gun laws can be found on the state’s website.