A 5-year-old Jennings boy was fatally shot Thursday by a 6-year-old boy with a stolen handgun found inside a home.

Police Chief Danny Semmes said police were called around 5:30 p.m. in reference to a child being shot at a residence in the 600 block of Gallup Street.

When officers arrived they discovered the child had been shot once in the torso with a 9 mm handgun by a 7-year-old boy inside the residence. The child has been identified as Adaun Gaines.

“Officers immediately began CPR and transported the victim by police unit to the American Legion Hospital where they worked on the boy for an hour and 15 minutes before pronouncing the child dead,” Semmes said.

Semmes said the victim, along with at least five other children ranging in ages 3-8, were left with a 26-year-old male babysitter. The children are all believed to be cousins and students at Jennings Elementary School.

The mother of the victim was at work while the mother of the shooter was out with her boyfriend, he said.

“What we can figure out through interviews, is that they were being babysat by this 26-year-old male and there was a gun in the house and the children found the gun in the house while they were playing,” Semmes said. “One of the children pointed the gun at the other child and pulled the trigger and shot him.”

Semmes said the gun was on a dresser in one of the rooms.

“The babysitter heard the pop, went in and the little boy ran into the front living room and laid down on the couch,” Semmes said. “The babysitter then apparently took the time to hide some drugs and hide the gun under the front porch before he went down the street to get a neighbor to call the police.”

Police believe 10-15 minutes may have lapsed from the time of the shooting before police were called.

The gun is believed to belong to a resident of the house and not the babysitter, but the babysitter knew the gun was in the house, Semmes said. The babysitter did not live at the residence, but frequently babysat the children for the two women who live at the residence.

“The babysitter had called the mother of the child and either had a bad connection, or she couldn’t hear,” Semmes said. “All she could hear was screaming in the background. That’s when he went down the street to get somebody to call for him instead of just going outside just real quick. He should have called 911.”

Police anticipate at least two arrests to be made in connection with the fatal shooting and the stolen gun.

On Friday, authorities were continuing to investigate the shooting by obtaining search warrants for DNA. Police were also expected to interview the children who were inside the home at the Child Advocacy Center.

Semmes said the incident was traumatic for officers, first responders and medical staff at the hospital.

“It was a traumatic situation for all my officers, the first responders and every nurse and doctor at the hospital,” he said. “This is not something that happens every day. It’s hard for everybody involved to deal with.”

Counseling was being made available Friday for all officers and first responders involved in the investigation, including those who performed CPR on the victim.

Semmes commended his officers for the professional job and thanked Welsh Police Chief Marcus Crochet and Assistant Police Chief Chris Myers who helped process the crime scene and secure the scene.

This is the second incident of a child being shot in Jennings in less than a year.

Last summer, a 3-year-old child allegedly shot himself in the pelvic area with a gun he found. The child survived.

Semmes urges parents to keep guns safe and out of children’s reach.

“We live in Southwest Louisiana and almost every home has a gun in it,” he said. “This is a different situation because it was a stolen gun and it shouldn’t have been in the house at all to begin with. You have to keep your firearms locked away out of the reach of children.”

In addition he said those with firearms in the house need to monitor and know who you allow to stay with your children.