After his four-year-old son was caught on camera displaying a loaded revolver outside their apartment, the father was taken into custody.
A neighbour’s Ring doorbell camera captured shocking security footage of an unattended youngster running through the hallways of a building in Beech Grove, Indiana while brandishing a firearm.
According to Sky News, the video showed the toddler pushing the trigger at one point, but no shots were fired. It was shown on the reality television programme On Patrol: Live, which follows police officers while they are on duty.
Police reportedly arrived at the 45-year-old father Shane Osborne’s home to question him about the baby who was waving a gun after a neighbour called the police to report the terrifying occurrence.
WTHR reports that the father admitted to being sick and sleepy when his child left the house for the broadcast. According to Buzzfeed News, he said that he didn’t have a gun in the flat since he had previously been found guilty of felony theft and forgery.
“I don’t have a gun,” Osborne reportedly said after police entered his apartment, according to a release from the show obtained by CNN. “I have never brought a gun into this house, if there is, it’s my cousin’s.”
However, the source revealed that after conducting a check of the residence, the police found a 9mm Smith & Wesson revolver hidden beneath a television in the living room.
Later in the documentary series, the police could be seen removing the man in handcuffs from his residence. Additionally, the newspaper said that a police officer had told prosecutors that there was enough evidence for an arrest for “child negligence, that’s a felony,” because there was a loaded gun in the flat.
According to Zach Horgan, a sergeant with the Beech Grove Police Department, the gun’s chamber was empty, but the magazine was loaded with ammunition, according to a report in Buzzfeed News.
“This kid could’ve hurt himself, hurt his dad, or hurt a lot of other people because this gun was loaded,” the Beech Grove officer explained.
In a statement to Fox 59, Beech Grove mayor Dennis B. Buckley also added that he was “mortified [about] what took place” and is “so thankful that no one was hurt, especially the young child”.
“I appreciate the quick action taken by the Beech Grove Police Department to secure the small child and the gun in question,” Buckley said.
“I ask that the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office work tirelessly to secure charges and a conviction against the responsible parties, with maximum penalties. Society shouldn’t accept anything less,” he added.
According to The New York Post, the father was arrested and the youngster was supposedly restored to his mother, with whom he resides.
Osborne is due in court on Tuesday in the afternoon (January 17). It is unknown if he had legal representation.
Featured image credit: Anton Gorbov / Alamy
