|
(AP) A 4-year-old boy found a loaded gun in
his family's house and fired it through the front door, killing his
5-year-old sister and seriously wounding another boy, authorities said.
An older sister had seen the child pick up the semi-automatic
handgun in the house Saturday night and had rushed the other children
outside to try to protect them, but the bullet went through the door,
hitting them, said Prince George's County police spokeswoman Cpl. Diane
Richardson.
The two wounded children stumbled across the street
and collapsed in a neighbor's driveway, she said. Kimberly Brice was
pronounced dead after arrival at a hospital.
The bullet had hit
the boy, age 7, in the back and then hit Kimberly, Richardson said. The
injured boy was expected to survive, she said. Police believe he is
other children's half-brother.
“It's a terrible situation that
probably could have been avoided,” Richardson said. “It's quite obvious
the gun was not secured.”
She said the 4-year-old cannot be held
criminally responsible, but the parents or other adults connected to the
house could potentially face charges of leaving the young children
unattended or leaving the gun where the children could get to it.
“We're still trying to determine where the parents were” during
the shooting, Richardson said. The older sister who was with the
children was 10 years old.
The mother of the three siblings went
to one of the hospitals after the shooting, Richardson said. A man lives
in the house as well, she said, but it wasn't clear Sunday what his
relationship to the woman or the children is.
© MMIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or
redistributed.
|
