2-year-old boy shoots both his parents

A 2-year-old boy shot both his parents in Maine after picking up a handgun that was lying on a nightstand.

The boy’s 25-year-old father was hit in the head and the mother, 22, was struck in the leg in the shooting at their home in the small coastal town West Bath on Wednesday morning, news station WMTW reported.

The child, who was also hurt when the firearm recoiled, fired just one shot, according to CBS affiliate WGME.

All three family members were taken to hospital and treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

The couple’s 3-week-old baby boy was also in the room when the gun was fired.

He is reportedly in the care of his grandmother, who also lives at the home, but was away at the time of the shooting.

“How the boy was able to pick up and fire the weapon is of great concern and is being investigated,” Sagadahoc County Sheriff Joel Merry said.

“This situation, while disturbing, could have had an even more tragic ending,” the sheriff added.

Local residents were left scratching their heads as to what a loaded gun was doing on a nightstand with children in house.

“A parent should know better than to leave a loaded gun anywhere that a child can get to it,” Robin Buczkowski of nearby Woolwich told WGME. “For whatever reason, that did not happen in this particular case.”