4-year-old Oakland boy shot in head, in critical condition

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- Oakland police are investigating the shooting of a young boy at a house in East Oakland Wednesday afternoon. It happened just after 2 p.m. on Ritchie St., near Bancroft.

Anthony Wilson says the house where a 4-year-old boy was shot in the head is his brother's house, and Wilson claims the shooting was an accident.

"That's my brother's house. My brother they say is in custody," said Anthony Wilson, who stood behind the yellow police tape watching investigators. "Everybody was in the living room. The boy wandered into the bedroom, and they heard a gun go off."

That's what Wilson says his brother told him.

Oakland police won't confirm that the boy shot himself, only that he was shot in the head, inside the house, and that two people are being detained.

"This is an ongoing investigation," said Oakland police spokeswoman Felicia Aisthorpe.

Neighbors were upset knowing that a boy so young was so seriously injured.

"For something like this to just tragically happen, something has to be done," said Lashawn Washington. "This is not making any sense right here."

Wilson told ABC7 News he believes what his brother told him, that the little boy found a gun and that the shooting was accidental.

"I mean, it's supposed to be locked up," said Wilson. "I can't tell you why the gun wasn't locked up."

Police are in the process of obtaining a warrant to search the entire house. The two people detained are a male resident and his female friend. It's not clear if the woman is the boy's mother. The boy is in critical condition at a local hospital.