GRANBURY, TEXAS -- A handgun went off in the hands of a toddler in a Texas Walmart parking lot Wednesday, wounding the child's mother in the arm and side and young sibling in the leg, police said.

The shooting happened in Granbury, Texas, about 64 kilometres southwest of Fort Worth.

Police said the gun discharged once when the 2-year-old took it from between a seat and the centre console while in the car with a 1-year-old sibling and with their 23-year-old mother standing outside near the driver's side door. The children's 26-year-old father was standing near the vehicle's rear, police said.

The mother and 1-year-old were taken to Fort Worth hospitals, but neither was wounded severely, said police Lt. Russell Grizzard.

Police are still investigating and haven't yet determined if any charges will be filed, Grizzard said.

Correction:

This story has corrected the ages of the children. Police say the child who was shot was 1, not 3 months old, and the child who discharged the handgun was 2, not 1.