A 3-year-old boy in California shot and killed his 1-year-old sister after seizing an unsecured firearm, authorities say.
The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department received a call about a shooting Monday around 7:30 a.m. local time at a home in Fallbrook, about 55 miles north of San Diego.
Deputies found a 3-year-old boy with “an unsecured handgun,” the sheriff’s department said in a statement. Press release.
The family’s 1-year-old daughter suffered a head injury. She was transported to Palomar Hospital and she died an hour later, authorities said.
It is not immediately clear if any parents were in the home at the time of the shooting.
“The Sheriff’s Department extends our condolences to the family and those affected by this death. Sheriff’s homicide investigators are working to gather more information to determine the circumstances of death,” the sheriff’s department said.
There are no “prominent suspects” or a threat to the community in the shooting, authorities said.
The sheriff’s department said the district attorney’s office was notified of the shooting and will be updated with the findings of the investigation.
The medical examiner’s office will perform an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of the child’s death.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the Homicide Unit at (858) 285-6330 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.
There are hundreds of unintentional shootings by children each year in the country. As of July 12, there have been at least 217 unintentional shootings by children, resulting in 76 deaths and 149 injuries so far in 2023, according to a count by Everytown for Gun Safetya nonprofit gun control organization.
