Toddler shoots two children with handgun in daycare centre

Police are determining whether to file charges in the case

Two children were shot by another toddler at an informal daycare centre in Michigan (YouTube/WXYZ-TV Detroit )

Two children are in serious but stable condition after allegedly being shot by another toddler at their home day care centre.

A toddler in Dearborn, Michigan “accessed a handgun” in a suburban home where several children were being cared for, police said. The weapon discharged, injuring two 3-year-olds who were present.

The children were initially listed as in critical condition, but have since been downgraded to serious. One was shot in the shoulder, and the other suffered an injury to his face, according to the Detroit Free Press.

At least one child is expected to make a full recovery, police said.

“We’re going to pray these two young kids are going to be ok,” Police Chief Ron Haddad said at a news conference. “However it shakes out, it’s a tragedy for our entire community.”

Mr Haddad said there were several other children at the house at the time of the shooting. The owner of the home frequently uses it to babysit the children of friends and family, according to her sister, Ashley Escobdeo.

Representatives for the Michigan Department of Licencing and Regulatory Affairs told the Detroit News that the house was not licenced as a child care home.

Mr Haddad called the incident “tragic” and “irresponsible,” but declined to comment further. Police investigators are still meeting with prosecutors to determine whether charges will be filed.

The Free Press reports Child Protective Services are involved. The children who live in the home have been sent to stay with relatives.

Ms Escobedo said she never knew her sister, Samantha, to keep guns in the home.

"My sister totally hate guns," she told the Detroit News. “This would be her worst nightmare."

A recent investigation by the Associated Press and USA Today found 49 children had accidentally shot someone in Michigan over a two-and-a-half year span. Seventeen children died as a result.

Studies estimate that more than 1,000 children die from gun-related injuries in the US every year. Almost 6,000 are treated in the ER for such injuries.

An estimated 1.7m children across the US live in homes with unlocked, loaded guns, according to Jonathan Hutson, a spokesman for the Brady Centre to Prevent Gun Violence.

“Many parents bring a gun into the home legally with no intent of doing harm,” Mr Huston previously told The Independent. “Many think they’re doing their family a service by offering protection. Yet these guns cause the majority of gun deaths and injuries.