SANFORD, Fla. – A man who was drunk on whiskey and beer pulled out a gun and shot a 7-year-old boy while the children were playing with Nerf guns, according to the Sanford Police Department.
Police said the boy and a few other children were visiting Anthony Knuth’s home along with their mother Saturday night. The children were in the living room with Knuth playing with Nerf guns when Knuth told them he had a real gun and was going to put a real bullet in it, records show.
The victim’s mother was in another room when she heard a loud pop and ran in to find her son bleeding near his knee while another child said, “Anthony shot him,” according to the affidavit.
Police said Knuth made a comment that he was going to go to jail because he shot a child. He then went to his room while the boy’s mother took him to a hospital.
Doctors said the child suffered an open fracture below his left kneecap and would need surgery to remove the fragmented projectile from his leg, records show.
Knuth told officers that he had taken shots of Southern Comfort and drank beer the night of the shooting and if he shot the child, it must have been an accident because he couldn’t remember it, according to the report.
Knuth was arrested on charges of child neglect with great bodily harm and using a weapon while under the influence of alcohol.