BATON ROUGE - A father is facing charges after his 3-year-old son got his hands on a gun and accidentally shot himself.

The East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office said the toddler was rushed to a hospital with a gunshot wound to his head Sunday afternoon. As of Monday, the sheriff's office said the child was in critical but stable condition.

Deputies executed a search warrant at the family's home on Skysail Avenue and found a firearm on the living room couch. The gun did not have a holster, and deputies found no other safeguards for the weapon at the home, according to arrest documents.

The boy's father, 26-year-old Deetroy Watkins, told investigators that a friend had left the weapon behind on his couch several days earlier. He also admitted that he had felt the gun in the couch cushion the night before the shooting but did nothing to secure it. 

Watkins said he was in his bedroom Sunday when he heard a loud bang from another room and found his son shot. Watkins and his fiancee then sought help from a neighbor who drove them to a hospital. 

Arrest records said Watkins has a prior conviction for domestic abuse which banned him from possessing a gun. 

Watkins was booked for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and negligent injuring.

The shooting in Gardere was the second of the afternoon involving juveniles being shot.  Earlier, one juvenile was shot while two kids were playing with a gun in Central.