A Scranton man faces felony charges after police say his ten-year-old son shot himself in the hand with a gun.
At about 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, city police were called to Regional Hospital, Jefferson Avenue, on a report of a youngster with a gunshot wound to the hand.
Officers spoke with Michael Lemongello, who said the gun was on a shelf near his bed.
Lemongello, 56, of 646 Cherry St., said he usually keeps the loaded 9 mm Taurus firearm in a safe place, but had taken it out and placed it on the shelf temporarily.
Officers spoke with the 10-year-old who said he didn’t know the gun was loaded.
“I picked it up and was clicking it, but it wasn’t going forward,” he told officers. “When it did go forward, it went through my hand.”
Hospital staff said the youngster was being transported to Lehigh Valley Cedar Crest Hospital in Allentown.
They said the bullet went through his left palm and exited out the top of his hand. He was being transported to see a pediatric orthopedic specialist.
Medical staff said the child was stable, but that his hand was fractured.
Officers spoke with Joy Smith, the child’s mother, at the Cherry Street residence.
She said she had heard a bang and then her son screaming. She went upstairs and told Lemongello to call 911, but he insisted on driving the child to the hospital himself.
Smith said she yelled at Lemongello in the past to keep the guns safe. She said the guns would sometimes be “laying around.”
She reiterated that she told Lemongello to lock the guns up because their 10-year-old was curious and always touching things.
Lemongello is charged with endangering the welfare of a child. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on June 2 before District Judge Alyce Farrell.