Local

Pine Hills boy, 4, shoots self in head

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A 4-year-old Orange County boy got his hands on a loaded gun and shot himself in the head, according to deputies. He's in critical condition at Arnold Palmer Hospital.

It happened Wednesday morning at the Los Robles apartments off Silver Star Road.

Jezelle Santizo didn't see or hear the shooting, but she saw what happened next.

"Something happened to him. I don't know, I just saw him when [a man] was carrying the boy," said Santizo.

Deputies said the young boy's mother was at work, and the boy was home with his teenage aunt and a man when the boy found the gun and shot himself.

"He (the boy) always used to play with my son. He used to drive this little police car that he has," said Santizo.

Neighbor Donald Jones returned home this afternoon to discover the heartbreaking news that the little boy that so often had zipped past him was now in a hospital.

"It's been peaceful back here, and to come home and hear something like that, it hurts my heart," said Jones.

Neighbors said the boy is very friendly, and he loves to play in the same courtyard where his aunt spent much of Wednesday afternoon with a friend, waiting for word on her nephew's condition.

The Department of Children and Families launched an investigation to figure out how the child was able to get the weapon, who was watching him and if he or she was an appropriate person.

Neighbors said they never saw any other signs of trouble.

DCF wouldn't say if the family has a history with the agency, but said if there is one it's something the agency will consider when deciding if the child should be removed from his relatives if he's released from the hospital.

Investigators were going through the apartment late Wednesday evening.