OAKLAND, Calif. -- Oakland Police are continuing their investigation into a tragic case of child endangerment that left a four-year-old boy hospitalized with serious injuries from an firecracker accident and a mother behind bars facing several charges.

Police say the little boy was home alone Thursday afternoon when he got hold of a firecracker, lit it on a pilot light and it blew up in his hand. The explosion caused him to lose his thumb and three fingers, damaged his eye and burned the side of his face.

Neighbors of the family remain in shock.

"Why wasn't nobody there and what ever did he get a hold of?" asked neighbor Carl Goodman. "Why wasn't that put up out of the child's reach?"

People in the community say they don't want to pass judgment on the mother -- 26-year old Adonneka Gilchrist -- but say they don't understand how she could leave her child unattended.

"It hurts. And that wasn't my kid. Just a neighbor, but I'm hurt like that was one of my kids," said Goodman. "I heard little man come out the house screaming 'Somebody help me!' When I looked up, I saw his hand [with] two fingers gone and a bunch of blood spilling over."

Parents in the community say this could have been prevented.

"This is a neighborhood. We love each other. We take care of each other. We feed each other," said Paulette Hogan.

"I always watch people’s kids. Kids come up here. They know they can always come. They ask me, I'll watch them," said Latrina Rivera.

The little boy is under the custody of child protective services. Gilchrist is due in court Monday and will face charges of child endangerment, possession of stolen property because a stolen gun was found in her home and possession of an explosive device.