The child was playing in a car parked in the driveway of his home when he found a loaded handgun and accidently shot himself in the leg, according to police.

“The way the general statute reads, the person who makes a firearm accessible to a child has to be a parent or guardian (to be charged),” Capt. Ann Stephens with the Apex police said Thursday afternoon.

But police are getting another opinion to be sure.

“We are talking with the district attorney’s office,” Stephens said.

The shooting occurred inside of a car parked in the driveway at 401 Scotts Ridge Trail shortly after 2 p.m.

The red Acura Integra where the handgun was found belongs to the family babysitter, according to a neighbor across the street, Carol Medins.

Two of the family’s five children were staying with Medins after arriving home from school Thursday afternoon while the rest of the family was at the hospital with the 4-year-old, according to Medins.

The male sitter is described by Medins as a recent high school graduate now attending Wake Technical Community College.

He had left the loaded “unsecured” firearm inside the vehicle, Stephens said.

Two children who live at the home were playing inside the car while the sitter and their mother were inside the house.

“The 4-year-old got ahold of the gun and shot himself,” Stephens said. The boy’s injuries are not considered life-threatening.