Police: 3-year-old shot family friend

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CALLAWAY, Fla., Feb. 20 (UPI) -- A Florida couple could face charges for leaving a gun where a 3-year-old boy found and accidentally fired it, wounding a family friend.

Investigators with the Bay County Sheriff's Office said the gun appears to have been concealed between the mattresses of the bed used by Freddie and Amber White, MCT Regional News reported. Their son apparently found the loaded Taurus .38 Tuesday while the bed was stripped.

Emily Allen, 18, said she was lying on another bed in the home in Callaway in the Florida Panhandle when she heard a loud noise. She said she saw the boy with the gun in his hand but did not realize he had shot her in the forehead until she felt blood.

Allen escaped serious injury. The boy was also injured by the recoil of the gun.

Under Florida law, weapons in homes where children under 16 might have access to them must be kept locked up or have trigger locks. Violations are misdemeanors.