INDIANAPOLIS — A juvenile was injured in a shooting on the northwest side of Indianapolis Sunday evening.
According to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, officers were dispatched to the 4500 block of Golden Meadow Drive around 11:15 p.m. on a report of a juvenile shot. When officers arrived at the scene, they located a male with injuries consistent with gunshot wounds.
IMPD reported that the victim was transported from the scene to Riley Hospital for Children in critical condition. Police have not provided any additional updates on the victim's condition.
Per IMPD, the victim was younger than 10 years old. Police indicated that they found a gun near the boy in a bedroom. Investigators believe the gunshot wound the juvenile sustained may have been self-inflicted.
The gun did not have a safety lock on it when police found it. The child's mother and older brother were home at the time of the shooting.
"I can't imagine what the parents are going through on a situation like this," IMPD Captain John Arvin said during a media briefing. "Parents need to know, gun locks are free. I just checked before I came over here, Marion County Sheriff's Office still has a free gun lock program. They gave away over 600 last year — 600 free gun locks.
"And they're available, so if you're going to have a gun in the house, it needs to have a lock on it, especially when our children's lives are at stake."
IMPD is still actively investigating the incident. Law enforcement has obtained a search warrant for the home where the shooting occurred.
Police are still encouraging those with additional information on the shooting to contact Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at (317) 262-8477.
In total, three juveniles were shot in separate incidents across Indianapolis on Sunday. A 4-year-old sustained a gunshot wound in the 3600 block of North Dearborn Street around 12:30 p.m. Then, around 6:15 p.m., another juvenile was shot during an attempted robbery that occurred near the intersection of 38th Street and Moller Road.
As of this article's publication, no additional information on the shooting that happened on Golden Meadow Meadow Drive had been made available.