Five-Year-Old Accidentally Shot

By: Amanda McGill

Updated: Fri 8:50 AM, Jun 11, 2004

Five-year-old Denzel Canteneda is up and running this afternoon. It’s an amazing sight considering he was shot in the leg last night.

Denzel was playing with two friends: Another five-year-old, the other, a four-year-old. They were playing in an old vehicle they refer to as “a race car” at 911 North 30th Street. That’s when the four-year-old found a sawed-off shotgun under one of the seats. As he looked at it, it accidentally fired, hitting Denzel. The boys were able to walk back across the street to Denzel’s home and get his mom, Bridget.

Bridget says she heard them yelling Denzel was shot, but when she saw this wound was hardly bleeding, she decided to drive him to the hospital herself. Denzel was release from Saint Elizabeth’s later that night.

Police don’t know where the gun came from. The property owners say they don’t know whose gun it is either. Police are currently investigating. Three additional rounds were also in the gun after Denzel was shot.

Parents say the neighborhood is a fairly safe one. They never have any problems, and the kids like to play outside together. But now, they plan to keep a closer eye on their little ones.

Bridget Casteneda says, "I am very lucky my son's even alive right now. Very lucky."

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