Child killed playing with gun in Norristown home

A child died Saturday night after a gun he was playing with went off inside a Norristown home, according to a law enforcement source.

An on-call officer with the Norristown Police Department declined to confirm the incident Sunday and referred all questions to the department's public information officer, whom he said would not be available until Monday morning.

According to early, unconfirmed reports from a breaking news service, the child was shot in the head inside a home on West Oak Street near George Street around 8:21 p.m. He was transported to a Philadelphia hospital.

The law enforcement source said the child had been playing with a gun and accidentally shot himself. The boy later succumbed to his injuries, the source said.

The child's age and name were not immediately available.

- Stephanie Farr