A 42-year-old woman from Boksburg West, Ekurhuleni, was arrested on Tuesday for attempted murder and possession of an unlicensed firearm after her 10-year-old son was shot and injured.

Boksburg Advertiser reports that the incident occurred at around 07:00 last Saturday, when the mother allegedly attempted to intervene after seeing her youngest child (age unknown) playing with the firearm.

The firearm was reportedly kept under the bed in the main bedroom of the house on Van der Merwe Street.

According to Boksburg North SAPS station commander Colonel Mack Mngomezulu, police were called to Tambo Memorial Hospital on Tuesday regarding a boy who had sustained a gunshot wound.

“Police were informed that the mother saw her younger child playing with a firearm. As she tried to take it away, the firearm discharged and struck the boy,” says Mngomezulu.

The police detained the mother.

Mngomezulu did not disclose further details about the location of the gunshot wound or the child’s current condition.

Boksburg North CPF chairperson Mark Gilpin urges gun owners to teach children not to touch a firearm.

“Children must know that a firearm can kill somebody,” says Gilpin.

Gilpin pointed out that firearms may not be stored inside a vehicle and that a person may only point a gun at someone in self-defence or to defend another person.

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