DETROIT -- An 11-year-old boy was accidentally shot in the arm by a security guard on Detroit's west side Sunday afternoon after a bullet aimed at a purse-snatcher missed its mark.

According to police, a security guard at the Hope Evangelical Ministries Church on Livernois witnessed a man attempting to steal a woman's purse. The guard noticed that the man had a gun and fired a shot at him.

The shot missed the man and instead grazed the arm of the boy, who was sitting in the back seat of a car nearby.

He was taken to a local hospital, where he is expected to recover.

Police are questioning the security guard and a search is on for the person involved in the robbery attempt.