A 3-year-old girl fatally shot her 4-year-old sister in an unintentional shooting in Texas, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said.
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A 3-year-old girl fatally shot her 4-year-old sister with an unsecured firearm in Texas late on Sunday, March 12, according to a conference with Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez. The sheriff said the two children were left unsupervised and then picked up the loaded semi-automatic pistol.
Gonzalez said the girls were in the bedroom of an apartment complex in Houston, where they lived with their parents. The sheriff said five adults were also in the apartment at the time. All of the adults were family members or family friends of the girls.
The parents told deputies that they thought one of them was watching the girls at the time and “unintentionally” were left without supervision. Gonzalez said that’s when the 3-year-old found the pistol and fired a single shot.
Police arrived and pronounced the 4-year-old toddler deceased at the scene.
“It just seems like another tragic story of, again, a child gaining access to a firearm and hurting someone else and this time there was a fatal shot,” Gonzalez said in the conference. “Our hearts are broken. Our deputies are pretty shaken up.”
The sheriff said the investigation is ongoing. He added that it will be up to the district attorney to decide whether charges will be pressed against any of the adults. He noted that it is “very likely” that someone will face charges for failing to secure the weapon.
“You’ve got to make sure you’re a responsible gun owner,” Gonzalez said. “Secure your weapons in a safe place. It’s got to be more than just to tell the kids not to touch the weapons.”