ATLANTA (AP) — Authorities say a 3-year-old boy is in stable condition after he was shot in an apparent accident in northwest Atlanta.

Atlanta police Officer John Chafee said the preliminary investigation indicates the boy may have been playing with a handgun and shot himself in the face.

Police said the shooting happened shortly before 10 p.m. Thursday at the Allen Hills Apartments off Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. The boy was taken to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite.

Neighbor Ivey McMullen tells The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (http://on-ajc.com/1t2fP6f) that she heard people screaming that "the baby shot himself."

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