DELTA JUNCTION-Yesterday morning at about 9:30 am, Alaska State Troopers received a call reporting a gunshot victim at a residence in the community of Delta Junction.

The trooper investigation found that a four-year-old boy at that residence had acquired a .357 caliber revolver and it accidentally discharged striking him in the leg. The young boy had found the handgun in the purse of his mother.

According to the report, the handgun was in the mother’s purse which was hanging on a hook. The boy was able to climb up high enough to reach it. He had removed the handgun and other items from his mother’s purse and in the course of his actions, the handgun went off.

That child was transported to Providence Hospital, and it is reported that he is stable condition.

Names in the incident have not been released.

There were over 800 reported incidences of accidental gunshot fatalities last year, over half of the victims were children.