A five-year-old from Wichita is in the hospital after police say he was shot in the head with an air rifle by his four-year-old cousin.
The victim's 27-year-old uncle is facing child endangerment and resisting arrest charges. He, the father of the four year old, allegedly left his air rifle on the kitchen table of his home Monday.
"It actually struck the left side of the forehead and made penetration past the skull," Lt. Doug Nolte of Wichita Police said.
The injured boy, who spent the night breathing through a respirator, is now in critical but stable condition.
Air rifle owner Bill Williams, who has been shooting air rifles his whole life, advises people with air rifles to keep them out of the reach of children.
"Adults should keep them in closets ... because kids are definitely very curious," he said.
His old-school Red Rider fires pellets around 350 meters a second, but other, more powerful air rifles fire pellets at a 1,000 meters a second, the same speed as a 22-caliber handgun.
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