Georgia man guns down 3-year-old while trying to shoot family member

A Georgia man is in custody on Wednesday after police said that he shot a 3-year-old relative during an argument with another family member.

Gwinnett County police Cpl. Jake Smith told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the child was shot before 10 p.m. on Tuesday by a man who was believed to be a family member.

When officers arrived, the 3-year-old boy was laying on the driveway outside the home. He was transported to a local hospital, but efforts to save him were unsuccessful.

Luis Efrain Torres, who never left the scene of the shooting, was taken into custody and charged with murder and aggravated assault at around 2 a.m.

Investigators believe that Torres was arguing with another family member outside the Lilburn-area home when the conflict escalated into gunfire and the boy was shot.

"At this time, we don’t think he intended to actually shoot that child," Smith explained. "But we do believe he was trying to shoot someone else that was here."

Torres was being held without bond at the Gwinnett County Jail.

Watch this video from WXIA-TV, broadcast Aug. 21, 2013.

[Photo credit: Gwinnett County Jail]

(h/t: Talking Points Memo)