Texas 5-year-old shoots himself in the face with a shotgun during unsupervised hunting trip

A 5-year-old boy in Texas is in critical condition after he reportedly shot himself in the face with a shotgun while hunting with his 11-year-old brother.

A Harris County resident who identified himself to KHOU has "Mr. Fred" recalled that the 11-year-old drove to his house in a panic on Friday afternoon.

"I was sitting on the porch, car comes flying in here," Mr. Fred explained. "He said his brother shot himself."

According to Mr. Fred, the 11-year-old boy had laid the gun down after the two boys had been out hunting. But the 5-year-old boy later went back to retrieve the gun.

The 11 year old heard a gunshot, and found the younger brother shot in the chin. He put the boy in the car and drove to a neighbor's house for assistance.

"He knew what to do," Mr Fred noted. "He got his brother, put him in the back seat."

"That was a strong little boy," he added. "I kept telling everybody don't get his heart beating, just keep it calm."

A neighbor who was identified as Ms. Beth (pictured above) help put pressure on the wound.

"It was just an accident, an accident that should have never happened," she told KHOU.

The 5-year-old was taken by life flight helicopter to Memorial Herman Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition.

Harris County Sheriff's deputies were investigating why the boys had access to guns and a car while their father was at work.

Watch the video below from KHOU, broadcast Sept. 5, 2014.

[Photo: A smoking 12 bore shotgun having ejected spent a cartridge by Max Earey via Shutterstock]