A 3-year-old Texas girl accidentally shot and killed her 4-year-old sister on Sunday after finding a loaded gun in her parents’ possession, officials said.
At a press conference, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said there were five adults in the apartment with the girls, all of whom are family or friends. played in the bedroom but was unintentionally unsupervised because one parent thought the other parent was watching.
A 3-year-old boy found a loaded semi-automatic pistol and fired one shot into the 4-year-old boy’s face. She was confirmed dead at the scene.
Gonzalez said such shootings can be prevented.
“You have to be a responsible gun owner and make sure your weapons are stored in a safe place. You have to do more than just tell young children not to touch their weapons.” said Gonzalez. “You know, we have to do a little more. We see too many tragic situations like this.”
according to data According to Everytown for Gun Safety, there have been at least 58 unintentional shootings by children in the United States so far in 2023. Of these, at least 22 deaths and 37 injuries have been documented. Advocacy groups have found at least 353 unintentional shootings by children in 2022, killing 156 and injuring 212.
of American Public Health Association states that gun violence in the United States is a public health crisis. is the leading cause of premature death in the country, 38,000+ deaths every year. As of March 13, at least 3,537 people have died from gun violence this year, and he has 4,752 more deaths from suicide. According to data from the Gun Violence Archive.
A spokesman for the Harris County Sheriff’s Office told BuzzFeed News in an email that the agency’s Child Crime Division has taken over the investigation.
“Our hearts are broken. Our agents are pretty upset,” Gonzalez said. “When a child dies like this, communities are affected.”
