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EUSTIS, Fla. – The father of a 5-year-old boy who accidentally shot himself in the head last month in Eustis has been arrested, according to police.
Dexter Demond Neal, 49, was arrested Sunday after turning himself in.
Eustis police said the child, who has autism, somehow obtained the gun on June 28 and shot himself. The gun belonged to the boy’s father, police said.
A neighbor, who is a licensed flight nurse, helped the child before police arrived, according to a case report.
The child was airlifted to Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and underwent surgery, according to police, who said last said that the boy was in stable condition.
Family members said their firearms were typically stored inside lock boxes on the top shelf of a bedroom closet. It’s not known how the child got hold of the gun.
“When you think about it, a five-year-old boy or any child, for that matter of fact, getting shot with a gun, an accidental shot — it makes you really start putting things in perspective how young kids have access to guns,” Eustis Police Chief Craig Capri said last month.
Neal faces charges of neglect of a child and culpable negligence.
The family is cooperating with the investigation, police said.
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