BEECH GROVE, Ind. – Surveillance video captured a 4-year-old boy waving a handgun around, and that video led to the child’s father’s arrest on live television.
Neighbors in Indiana where this occurred say they are still shaken about how close they came to a potential tragedy.
“I don’t know how you can’t watch that video, parent or non-parent, and not be shocked and disturbed,” Beech Grove Deputy Police Chief Robert Mercuri said.
According to a police incident report obtained by CNN affiliate WTHR, video from a neighbor’s security camera showed a diapered 4-year-old with a handgun in an Indiana apartment complex on Saturday.
“He was standing in the middle of the hallway, and he was just kind of holding it behind his back and I thought like, ‘that’s a real gun,’” neighbor Nicole Summers said.
Police said it indeed was a real gun.
Summers says she called 911 after she realized her own child was in danger.
“He kind of looked down, just from the opening of the stairway and was like, ‘Look what I got. Ha ha.’ And then when we seen the video of him pulling the trigger and knowing that he had pointed that gun at my son,” Summers said.
As cameras were rolling for a TV series covering activity at police departments around the country, Beech Grove police officers approached Shane Osborne, the boy’s father, who denied having a gun inside his home.
However, police said they soon found a 9-millimeter gun inside the apartment. No rounds were in the chamber.
Osborne was handcuffed and taken into custody. According to a police report, the 45-year-old is facing felony neglect charges.
Summers and others in the area are just glad no one was injured.
“We were so blessed that gun was not chambered or that baby could be dead,” she said.
Osbourne is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday afternoon.
Police say he could face more charges since he already has a felony conviction.