A 5-year-old girl is clinging to life after police in Washington D.C. say her 3-year-old brother grabbed an unsecured gun from inside the family’s home and shot her.
At least two people have been arrested in connection to the shooting at an apartment complex in the southwest part of the city near the Maryland state line, the Metropolitan Police Department confirmed to USA TODAY on Tuesday.
According to police, officers responded to an apartment about 6:30 p.m. Monday and found the 5-year-old girl shot in the chest.
On Tuesday, police spokesperson Makhetha Watson told USA TODAY the shooting victim remained in stable condition with critical injuries at a hospital.
According to a preliminary investigation, the children’s mother left them in their apartment in the care of a family friend, according to multiple local media outlets including Fox 5 and WUSA 9. The friend, whose identity was not immediately released, according to the station, was arrested on child cruelty charges.
It was not immediately known who the gun belonged to.
‘We cannot talk about gun safety enough’
At the scene, local media reported, police also arrested an older sibling of the two children for assaulting a police officer.
“It’s such an unfortunate incident,” Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith said during a press conference late Monday. “We cannot talk about gun safety enough. Again when we have firearms in our homes there’s an expectation that we are to keep our firearms locked up especially away from our children.”
The shooting remained under investigation Tuesday.
Child fatally shoots mom in California: Toddler accidentally shoots, kills 22-year-old mother; boyfriend arrested in case
How to store guns around children
According to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly half of unintentional firearm injury deaths among children and adolescents from 2003 to 2021 took place at home while juveniles played with a firearm or showed the firearm to another person.
“Overall, firearms used in unintentional injury deaths were often stored both loaded and unlocked and were commonly accessed from nightstands and other sleeping areas,” the report reads.
The California Attorney General’s Office warns that firearms should be stored in a locked container and locked with a firearms safety device. Ammunition should be stored separately, and gun owners should never leave a firearm “lying around the house.”
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Girl shot by 3-year-old brother with unsecured gun in DC home: Police
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