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2-year-old seriously injured in accidental shooting

By Scott Harvey

Tyler – Investigators say a 2-year-old boy was hospitalized in critical condition yesterday after apparently shooting himself in the head just east of Tyler.

The boy was being cared for at his grandparent's east Texas roadhouse. Smith County Sheriff J.B. Smith says the child's grandmother, Chonda McClean, was caring for the child at her home when the bartender called to say he had to leave work.

McClean took the child with her, and while she was busy he apparently strolled into a back room, crawled up to a desk, got a handgun and shot himself in the forehead.

Smith said the case will be referred to the Smith County District Attorney's Office for a decision on whether to submit it to a grand jury.