
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 15, 1995                   TAG: 9502150078
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

TODDLER SHOT IN STOMACH

The Henry County Sheriff's department is investigating exactly how a Martinsville toddler was shot in the stomach Friday night.

Sheriff Frank Cassell said he has a hard time believing the explanation given by the family of 3-year-old Marquis Bruce.

Marquis' father, Jimmy Bruce, told police his son lunged toward the .357-caliber Magnum, turned the barrel toward his stomach and pulled the trigger.

"I have a hard time believing a child could turn a 4-inch barrel on himself and have enough strength to pull the trigger," Cassell said.

The bullet went through Marquis' stomach and came out his back, Cassell said. The toddler was in serious condition Tuesday at Memorial Hospital of Martinsville and Henry County, a nursing supervisor said.

Bruce, of the Villa Heights area, told the Martinsville Bulletin he had planned to hide the gun in a basement filing cabinet.

by CNB