14-year old Texas boy unintentionally shoots 12-year old brother with .22

Two brothers, ages 14 and 12, were left alone at a home in East Bexar County, Texas, while their mother was at work.  That's when they found an unsecured .22-caliber firearm.  The 14-year old unintentionally fired the weapon, hitting his younger brother in the chest.

The boy is in the hospital with problems breathing due to the wound.

From an article:

Bexar County sheriff's Detective Louis Antu said the boys were alone at the home about a mile north of U.S. 87 on Stuart Road about 2 p.m. when the teen-ager shot his 12-year-old brother in the chest with a .22-caliber firearm.

The shooter ran to a relative's home next door, where authorities were notified. The injured boy was flown to University Hospital with injuries not believed to be life-threatening.

Antu said the boy was having trouble breathing but was conscious.

Authorities said they believe the firearm belonged to the boys' mother, who was at work. Antu said the shooting is being handled as accidental, and no one had been charged as of Thursday afternoon.

He said deputies hadn't determined where the weapon was before the boy took it or whether he loaded it himself.

Antu said parents should keep firearms unloaded and inaccessible to children.

Here's a better idea to keep guns away from children:  don't have a gun in the home with them.

Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.