According to a public information release from Officer Paul Hill of the Marietta Police Department a man left a handgun on an apartment patio in a complex on Whitlock Avenue yesterday afternoon, leading to a shooting that injured two small children.

A four-year-old child picked up the gun and fired a gunshot that injured both the four-year-old and a two-year-old.

Both children were taken to the Wellstar Kennestone Hospital emergency department for treatment.

Ofc. Hill told the Courier in an email that the police department is still awaiting word on the condition of the children.

[The Cobb County Courier has a policy of withholding or redacting the name of suspects unless and until the person is convicted in a court of law or enters a plea of guilty. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty, and the internet has no effective way of removing reports of arrest if the person is exonerated. We do make exceptions in high-profile cases or charges against public officials where exoneration is likely to be as widely publicized as the initial arrest]

The adult who had left the unattended gun was booked into the Cobb County Adult Detention Center on the following charges:

1 count of felon in possession of a firearm (F)

2 counts of cruelty to children 2^nd degree (F)

1 count of reckless conduct (M)

1 count of tampering with evidence (F)