Woman holding young child shot after gun fired in apartment above in Dayton

Police siren

Police siren

A woman was shot while holding her young child Saturday after a gun was fired through the floor of the apartment above hers in Dayton

Dayton Police Maj. Brian Johns said that officers were dispatched to the 1000 block of Watervliet Avenue at 6:38 p.m. Saturday on a reported shooting.

Officers found a woman who had been shot in the leg while holding her 2-year-old child.

Johns said that two people who fled the scene were being investigated from the apartment above.

He said that supposedly one of the two was playing with the gun and shot it out the window, and when it was picked up by the second of the two and it fired accidentally at the floor.

The major said the woman was taken to the hospital and would recover from her injuries.

“It is a miracle that the child was not killed or hurt,” he said.

When asked about gun safety, Johns said that the police department holds gun safety classes and intend to hold more, adding that they even offered free pizza at the last event. He also said that the department offers gun locks free of charge.

“Every year we seem to have at least one or two incidents where guns were left unsecured and people, especially sometimes children get ahold of guns, and tragedies occur,” he said.

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