WARREN - Police say the wounding of a Woodland Avenue teen Tuesday evening was accidental.
Detective Wayne Mackey said 16-year-old Marcus Lowery was handling a revolver when it went off, wounding him in the stomach about 9:20 p.m. Tuesday.
Family members said the bullet that hit Lowery went through his stomach and out his leg.
He was released from St. Elizabeth Health Center on Wednesday afternoon.
Police were called Tuesday night to a shooting in the area of McKinley Street N.E. and Logan Avenue N.E. They found Lowery, and a few minutes later, a revolver in a nearby ditch.
Mackey said investigators do not yet know where Lowery got the gun.
There were other people in the area at the time of the shooting, but Mackey said it was Lowery who was handling the gun when it went off. Police and dogs searched Tuesday night for two other people who ran from the scene right after the gun fired.
Relatives of Lowery said they disagree with the police version that Lowery shot himself.
Mia Bennett, the mother of his 8-month-old daughter, and his sister, Mariah Lowery, both said from the front porch of Lowery's home on Wednesday that they doubted he shot himself because they think the gun was too far away from Lowery when he was found by police.
Bennett said when she found out Lowery was shot, she held him until police arrived.
''I ran to him as soon I heard someone say, 'Your boy just got shot,''' Bennett said.
Another sister, Susie Binder, said Lowery is expected to make a recovery, although he faces a lot of rehabilitation of his leg because of the exit wound from the bullet.