A 2-year-old was shot inside a Beaumont apartment early Monday and airlifted to Houston. The teen suspect, the child’s brother, fled before police arrived.
BEAUMONT, Texas — A 2-year-old child was airlifted to a Houston hospital after being shot inside a Beaumont apartment early Monday, and the teenager accused of accidentally firing the weapon remains at large, police said in a news release issued Monday morning.
Beaumont Police officers were dispatched shortly after midnight Monday morning to the emergency room at Baptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas in the 3000 block of College Street after receiving a report of a gunshot victim. Upon arrival, officers learned the child had been taken to the hospital by private vehicle before shortly before police arrived.
Investigators have identified the suspect as Javon Jean, 17, of Beaumont, the victim’s older brother. Preliminary information indicates Jean accidentally fired a gun inside their apartment at Plymouth Village Apartments in the 5000 block of Helbig Road, striking the child.
Jean drove the child to the hospital but left before officers could talk to him. The child was later airlifted to a medical facility in Houston for further treatment.
Patrol officers and detectives found the suspected crime scene and the vehicle used to transport the victim. Jean, however, had not been located as of 9 a.m. Monday. He currently has an active warrant for aggravated assault.
Beaumont Police are asking anyone with information regarding Jean’s whereabouts to contact the department at (409) 832-1234 or Southeast Texas Crime Stoppers at (409) 833-TIPS (8477).