8-year-old accidentally shoots mother at baseball game after finding gun

The child found the weapon while playing in an antique jeep outside the baseball stadium

(Millington Police Department)

The owner of a gun that an 8-year-old boy accidentally shot his mother with at a baseball game in Tennessee has been arrested, and faces charges of reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon.

The shooting occurred at a college baseball game on Tuesday night, when the boy found a loaded gun while playing in an antique car used during the Second World War.

The boy, thinking the firearm was a toy, then pulled the trigger, hitting his mother and sending her to a Memphis hospital in critical condition.

The Millington Police Department has said in a press release that the jeep was on display outside the Howard Classic game in the USA Baseball Stadium as a part of a celebration for veterans, and a loaded gun was not a part of the festivities.

The owner of that gun, Charles McFarland, was arrested after the shooting.

Officials say the mother was still conscious as she was being taken away from the stadium.

Millington Police Chief Mark Dunbar said that the incident is a good reminder for gun owners like Mr McFarland — who is 76 and who has not had bail set yet — to be extra careful with deadly weapons.

“Secure your weapons,” Mr Dunbar said. “Everybody’s got a right to carry, if they got a carry permit, but you need to use common sense and secure your weapons.”

The game was suspended after the shooting.