Teen Shoots 6-Year-Old Sister in Chest; Police Investigating Child's Access to Handgun
A 13-year-old boy in Florida is being held responsible for the injury of his 6-year-old sister after he accidentally shot her in the chest. The two were reportedly home alone when the little girl was shot and seriously wounded.
"I thought it was strange," neighbor Justin Latourrette told The Sun Sentinel. "They didn't seem to have any supervision." He told police that approximately an hour later, he heard "a loud boom," which turned out to be the gunshot.
"The siblings had been home alone when the teen found the handgun," Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Dani Moschella said in a press release. "She seems like a fighter," Moschella said of the little girl.
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The girl was taken to Broward Health Medical Center, where she was listed in critical condition.
"They didn't use a stretcher," Latourrette told WFOR-TV. "They carried her straight out in their arms and you could tell she had a hole in her chest above her heart. She had her eyes open; you could tell she was in shock."
"Her shirt was bloody, and you could see through a piece of gauze that she had a hole in her chest above the heart. Her eyes were wide open in a blank stare, like she was in shock. I'll never forget that look," Latourrette later told The Sun Sentinel.
"The little boy just sat there rocking back and forth. It's just so devastating," an unnamed neighbor told The Epoch Times. "They had just moved in two weeks ago."
Police are currently investigating into why the handgun was so easily accessible. Under Florida law, the gun should have been kept in a locked safe, so that children would not have access to it. Any loaded firearm within the reach of a minor is a classified third-degree felony.
Just last week a 2-year-old girl was shot and killed when her 5-year-old brother accidentally fired the child-sized rifle he received for his birthday.
