‘A big blast came through and he fell,’ mom tells 911 after toddler shot in Fayetteville

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WNCN) — A mother said there was a “big blast” and found a hole in the in the back of her toddler son who was hit by a stray bullet Friday in Fayetteville, according to police and a 911 call.

The incident was reported just after 5:50 p.m. at apartment building 832 on Lake Pine Drive in Fayetteville.

A 3-year-old boy was hit by a round fired from a .45 caliber Ruger handgun when a man “negligently discharged” a gun inside a next-door apartment, according to police.

“We were just hanging out and we heard a loud pop,” a woman calling 911 said. “My son started bleeding and there is, like, a hole in his back.”

Police said the bullet went through a wall and hit the little boy.

“A big blast came through and he fell to the ground,” the mother said in the 911 call.

The father also got on the phone during the 911 call and said that he saw two wounds on his son.

“I think I see an entrance and exit wound,” the man said.

Brian Michael Cavalier Jr., 22, who is a US Army soldier, was charged with one count of discharging a barreled weapon into occupied property and one count of discharging a barreled weapon into occupied property causing serious bodily injury.

The boy suffered non life-threatening injuries and was taken to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center, officials said.