PITTSBURGH — A 17-year-old boy accidentally shot himself in the leg while standing in line at a McDonald's restaurant and now he faces an illegal weapons charge.

The boy was fiddling with the .25-caliber pistol tucked in his waistband when it fired, wounding him in the upper thigh shortly before 9 p.m. Wednesday, city police Sgt. William Gorman said.

"Some days you deal with a victim, some days you deal with an actor," Gorman said. "But it's a strange day when the actor is the victim."

The boy was in good condition at Mercy Hospital. He was to be charged with illegal possession of a firearm, because he is not old enough to lawfully have a gun, police said.

PITTSBURGH — Construction on a link between two of Pittsburgh's busiest highways begins Monday.The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is spending $7.9 million to link from southbound Route 28 to Interstate 279.Motorists now have to take a ramp onto a city street and go through three traffic lights to get from Route 28 to the interstate. The ramp, which will take about a year to build, should accommodate about 15,000 vehicles a day.Route 28 and I-279 are the main arteries to the city's north and east suburbs.