BAKERSFIELD, CA - The curiosity of four kids turned dangerous Tuesday morning when they found a loaded gun near a school bus stop. Sheriff's deputies said one of the boys accidentally fired the weapon just as the bus pulled up.
Deputies say the boys found the gun in the yard of a house on Crawford Street in northeast Bakersfield. The kids then took the gun up to the bus stop around the corner on North Inyo Street. The Sheriff's Department said one boy then accidentally fired once, but remarkably came away with only a cut on the forehead.
At the scene a deputy placed a hand on the 8-year-old shooter's head, comforting the boy after what officials said could have been a deadly accident.
"Fortunately a tragedy was averted," said Ray Pruitt of the Kern County Sheriff's Department.
"The weapon was in the yard and they said the kids were grabbing it, playing with it," said Maria Quezada, the boy's aunt.
Maria Quezada said her nephew ended up with the large caliber handgun at the bus stop.
"He actually turned it on his face and he was about to shoot at his face but then he said, he told me, that he turn it the other side and that's when he hit it," said Quezada.
Deputies said the shots were fired just as a school bus full of kids pulled up to the stop on North Inyo Street. Quezada said she was sleeping when her nephew came inside her house.
"He was bleeding, his face and his hands, and he was telling me that he got shot because he had a gun," said Quezada. "I was scared so right away I called 911."
Later, Quezada would realize the injury wasn't from a bullet.
"The recoil of the weapon caused the weapon to strike him, the butt of the weapon to strike him in the forehead caused a very minor injury, a laceration to his forehead," said Pruitt.
Deputies say they found no evidence anyone else was injured, a relief to the boy's school district.
"When the stories first come in you know it's a lot more alarming and there's all kinds of negative possibilities so we're relieved and glad that there have been no serious injuries," said Steve Gabbitas, public information officer for the Bakersfield City School District.
Gabbitas said because of this accident the district will ask parents to teach their kids what to do if they find a gun.
"If you find a firearm leave it there and tell an adult immediately," said Gabbitas.
The Kern County Sheriff's Department says the gun was not registered so deputies still do not know how the gun ended up on the street or who it belongs to.
Pruitt said the gun is an American Derringer .38 and .357 caliber with a four-inch barrel.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriff's Department 861-3110 or Secret Witness at 322-4040.