Police: 8-year-old boy shoots his 9-year-old brother in Federal Way apartment

Federal Way police are investigating after they say an 8-year-old boy shot his older brother at an apartment Thursday morning. 

At about 8 a.m., officers responded to a report of a shooting at a home in the 1200 block of South 336th Street. 

According to investigators, an 8-year-old boy shot his 9-year-old brother while handling a gun inside an apartment, where the family lives. 

When officers arrived at the scene, they rendered aid on the boy until medics arrived. 

The 9-year-old boy was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center.

As of May 23, officials at Harborview Medical Center told FOX 13 News the boy is now in serious. 

"She [the mother] is very well-loved. That whole family is very well-loved," said Diana Delgado, who attends church with the family. "What we need to do is stop knocking people and pray for what’s going on right now. 

According to King County, 98 children under the age of 18 have died by firearms in the county between 1999-2017. Most of those deaths were homicides (58%) and 39% were suicides. The remaining 3% is entered into data as "unknown," so that could include accidental shootings. 

On average, more than 140 King County residents per year were hospitalized for firearm injuries from 2016-2017, and 46% of those injuries were unintentional, according to recent data.

Karyn Brownson with the King County ‘Lock It Up’ Program says around half, or a little less than half, of gun owners in King County report that they are locking up their firearms. She says all gun safes and lockboxes are tax-exempt in the state of Washington. 

Neighbor Ameer Hassan said he hopes other families see this story and double-check their firearms situation at home. 

"If you have a gun at home, please, don't leave it with the kids," Hassan said. 

The investigation remains ongoing.