Butler police suspect that a 14-year-old city boy who accidentally shot himself with a pistol stole the handgun along with an AR-15 rifle and ammunition that were in an unlocked vehicle.

The boy also allegedly used a pair of scissors to file off the pistol's serial number.

Police on Tuesday charged the teenager and three other youths — one of them a 12-year-old city boy — in Butler County juvenile court stemming from their investigation.

The 14-year-old's mother also has been charged with hiding the reportedly stolen rifle.

The Butler Eagle is not identifying the youths because of their ages. The Eagle is not naming the 14-year-old's mother because it would help to identify him.

Police said they believe the teen shot himself in the right arm Jan. 29 at his mother's apartment on West New Castle Street, where he also was living.

A medical helicopter later flew the boy to UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, where he was treated and subsequently released. Police said he suffered a through-and-through wound, with the bullet entering and exiting his arm.

The shooting came four days after a man reported to Butler police Jan. 25 that a 9 mm pistol and an AR-15 rifle with a scope were among the items stolen from his vehicle in the city.

Other property taken from the vehicle included ammunition and several gun magazines.

Police would eventually link the theft to the shooting, according to investigators, alleging the 14-year-old shot himself with the stolen 9 mm pistol.

Officers called to the apartment where the shooting occurred found the 14-year-old and two other teenagers. The incident was initially reported as a robbery, police said, during which unknown individuals purportedly entered and shot the boy.

After interviewing the teens, it was determined that no robbery occurred and the gunshot wound was self-inflicted as the 14-year-old was playing with the pistol.

A 17-year-old Butler Township boy who was at the apartment at the time of the shooting admitted that he later took that handgun from the home and hid it in a brush area outside not far away.

He subsequently led officers to where he placed the gun, which police recovered. Police said he also told them that the 14-year-old had stolen the pistol from a vehicle.

Investigators obtained a search warrant for the 14-year-old's apartment. Police said the search turned up a 9 mm casing, a live 9 mm round, a magazine for a 9 mm pistol and a live round and three magazines for an AR-15.

Additionally, police dug a bullet slug out from a couch. Police believe that slug was from the bullet with which the 14-year-old was shot, according to investigators.

During the investigation, police reviewed city surveillance video that led them to suspect the 14- and 12-year-old boys in the earlier reported theft of the firearms and other items from the vehicle.

The two boys were interviewed, investigators said, and they both admitted to taking the victim's 9 mm pistol, AR-15, magazines for the guns and ammunition.

Police believe the boys took the property from the trunk of the unlocked vehicle Jan. 25, and carried the guns and other items to the home of the 14-year-old.

Later that same day, according to the investigation, the 14-year-old's mother was allegedly seen on city surveillance footage carrying the stolen AR-15 to another home in Butler.

Police said they interviewed the 31-year-old mother, and she admitted to taking the rifle from her apartment to the other home.

Capt. Jim Hollobaugh said police have recovered both guns and all the ammunition and magazines that were stolen from the vehicle.

Police on Wednesday charged the 31-year-old woman by summons with receiving stolen property, hindering apprehension or prosecution and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence.

The 14-year-old is charged as a juvenile with possession of a firearm with an altered or obliterated serial number, altering or obliterating a firearm's serial number and possession of a firearm without a carry license, all felonies.

He also is charged with underage possession of a firearm, theft from a vehicle, conspiracy and reckless endangerment, all misdemeanors.

The 12-year-old is charged as a juvenile with theft from a vehicle and conspiracy, both misdemeanors.

The 17-year-old is charged as a juvenile with hindering apprehension or prosecution and possession of a firearm without a carry license, both felonies, and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence and underage possession of a firearm, both misdemeanors.

A 16-year-old city boy who was at the apartment when the shooting occurred is also facing a misdemeanor firearm charge in juvenile court.

The 17- and 12-year-olds are being held at an unsecured juvenile detention facility, county authorities said, and the other youths are in the care of family as all their cases proceed.

Hollobaugh, meanwhile, issued a reminder to the public to lock their vehicles when unattended, and to remove and secure all valuables, including firearms.