The SAPS were initially looking for two men who were thought to have shot the child.
The incident took place on December 29, at 20.30pm outside the children’s home on Henry Crescent, Daveyton.
Benoni SAPS communications officer Const Zunickha Essakjee said the victim was shot twice in the upper body when he and his stepbrother found a firearm in the father’s car.
Essakjee said the boys were playing with the weapon when it went off.
The child was rushed to Life the Glynnwood Hospital where he later died.
Essakjee said the parents of the deceased were afraid to tell the truth and reported the incident as a murder.
Essakjee also said a firearm and cartridge was found in possession of the boys’ father, which Daveyton detectives confiscated.
He was arrested and charged with defeating the ends of justice and failing to secure a firearm.
His son was not arrested, but was charged with culpable homicide and negligent handling of a firearm.
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