A 1-year-old boy is undergoing surgery after he was shot on Wednesday afternoon, according to Akron Police.
At approximately 2:30 p.m., officers were called to the 1500 block of Hyde Park Avenue for a report of a shooting, Akron Police said. Upon arrival, they located the toddler, who had been shot in the abdomen.
The boy was transported to a nearby hospital where he underwent surgery, police said.
Akron Police Deputy Chief Michael Miller confirmed the toddler's injuries are non-life threatening.
"He will hopefully make a recovery, but still troubling circumstances around the carelessness of what appears to be an unintentional shooting," Miller added.
Police detained a 17-year-old boy, Akron Police said.
The teenager has been charged with one count of reckless assault and two counts of negligent assault.
Police don't know how the teen got the gun.
"He's detained at this point, and it is not yet clear if any charges will be filed," Miller said.
Another 17-year-old boy was self-transported to the hospital with a lower leg injury. Investigators believe it may be related.
"Based on the information provided, he was at the Hyde Park Avenue residence during that incident, so we believe that his injury could be somehow related to that, but we don't know how his injury occurred," Miller explained.
Akron Police aren't able to say whether adults were present at the time of the shooting but can confirm at least four people were there, including the two victims and the shooter.
"To have two people injured, you have a firearm that's not secure, you have people that appear to have not had the appropriate age or the knowledge to handle that safely; there are a lot of underlying points here, but our attention and thoughts and prayers are with the family as they await information and progress related to the child's injury," Miller shared.
We stopped by Hyde Park Avenue Wednesday afternoon to see if neighbors heard or saw anything related to the shooting. While no one we spoke with said they knew anything further than what Akron Police had released, it has them concerned for their neighborhood.
"What goes through your mind when hearing that someone so innocent and vulnerable was shot today?," News 5 Reporter Kaylee Olivas asked a man who lives two streets over from the shooting.
"Well, I mean it's always a concern," Dan Freeman responded. "You never like to hear anything happen to a young child in particular, let alone anybody."
Freeman explained how the neighborhood is typically quiet and doesn't harbor crime.
Freeman said he was shocked to see how quickly law enforcement wrapped up its time on Hyde Park Avenue.
"I was surprised there still wasn't as many police cars and stuff that was here. I was surprised that there wasn't somebody over here still doing stuff whether it's canvassing the area or the home or whatever. It hasn't been that long," Freeman stated.
Two doors down from where the shooting reportedly happened lives Alex Miller.
Alex said he had seen a handful of teenagers hanging out around the home where the shooting occurred. He said he's only ever seen one adult female come out of the house.
"Everything was super fishy," he stated. "It's Akron. It doesn't matter where you're at, it's always dangerous. You always got to just keep your guard up. I hope the best for that two year old," Alex noted.
Akron Police hope to have more information in the coming days.
