3 year old Arizona boy accidentally shoots Dad in the butt while target shooting

A 3 year old Tucson toddler shot his Dad in the butt while the Dad was target shooting in the desert:

A man who was target shooting south of Green Valley was shot in the buttocks by his 3-year-old son Monday.

The man, 36, was target shooting in a desert area southeast of Interstate 19, near the Canoa Road exit shortly before 6:30 p.m., said Tom Louis, battalion chief for the Green Valley Fire District.

The boy shot his father with a .22-caliber rifle, Louis said.

"Fortunately, the patient's injuries were not life-threatening," said Louis.

The child was not injured during the incident, Louis said.

No information was released about how the child got a hold of the rifle.

The man drove himself to the Canoa Road exit and I-19 where he called 911. In addition to firefighters and Southwest Ambulance, deputies of the Pima County Sheriff's Department were dispatched to the scene, said Louis.

The man was treated at the scene and taken by ambulance to University of Arizona Medical Center.

"This incident illustrates the importance of using exceptional caution whenever children are allowed around guns," Louis said.

"It can take only seconds for things to go very badly. Thankfully this incident was relatively minor," he said.

Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.