PORTLAND, Tenn. -- Police said a child abuse case was so severe that it brought tears to the eyes of officers.

Video: Police Say Man Slammed Baby's Head Into Bassinet

An 11-month-old child is in Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital while his parents are in the Sumner County Jail.

The incident began Sunday afternoon in a Portland home when the boy's father called 911 to report that his child wasn't breathing. In the background of the 911 tape, the child can be heard struggling for air.

"I have an almost 1-year-old baby that is not breathing right, and it's like he's dead in my arms. … It's real labored breathing. It's like he's having a hard time, oh God, he's trying to stop breathing on me," the boy's father, Thomas Snelling, said.

The police said they didn't know at the time of the call that the toddler was hit by his father in a fit of rage because he was crying. Police said that when they confronted Snelling, he confessed. What he did to the child sickened even the most seasoned officers, police said.

"Three times, he slammed the baby's face, grabbed the baby by the face in the back of the head and into that bassinet, which we believe here is what broke the bottom of the bassinet," said Richard Smith of the Portland Police Department.

Police said the child was probably crying because he was hungry. They said the milk in his crib had turned rancid, and arriving officers found the baby turning blue.

The baby, nicknamed Baby Daniel by police, is in a coma at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital. Baby Daniel has touched the hearts of every member of the Portland Police Department.

"The officers that arrived on the scene came to me later, 'Can we go down and visit? We have to go to Vanderbilt,'" Smith said.

A photo taken on Tuesday shows one of the officers holding the baby's hand in his hospital room.

Police said Baby Daniel wasn't the only abuse victim; officers said they found four other children in the house -- ages 3 to 10 -- hungry and poorly clothed.

"They said they didn't eat all day; had not a bite of food all day long. No shoes, no shirts, poorly clothed as you'll see in the report. The patrol officers take it upon themselves to go in McDonald's and get Happy Meals for everybody," Smith said.

Officers said the case is something every officer brings home with them.

"You can't help but think about Baby Daniel when you go to sleep and when you wake up," Smith said.

Snelling is charged with aggravated child abuse, and the boy's mother is charged with child neglect. If Baby Daniel doesn't survive, his father will be charged with felony murder through aggravated child abuse, police said.

The other children are in Department of Children's Services care.

A prayer was offered for Baby Daniel’s recovery at a police staff meeting on Thursday.