Detroit Police Investigate Accidental Shooting Death of 6-Year-Old Girl Due To Unsecured Gun

A six-year-old girl died after her mother left her in a car with an unsecured gun and four other children.

The unnamed victim was shot in the head after her mother, also unnamed, left the car unattended to get food. The incident happened just after 12:00pm on 2 March, at a shopping centre parking lot near Gratiot and Harper Ave in Detroit.

'At some point in time, shortly thereafter, one of the kids from the car ran to try to grab her but it was unfortunately a little too late,' Charles Fitzgerald, First Assistant Detroit Police Chief, told Fox 2 Detroit. 'A six-year-old girl was fatally shot in the head with an unsecured weapon.'

Deadly Accident Leaves Unconfirmed Details

It is yet unclear if the victim was shot by another child in the car, or if she accidentally shot herself. Police have yet to confirm where the gun was stored in the vehicle.

'As you can imagine, mom is a mess,' Fitzgerald said, referring to the victim's mother. 'But we'll have to figure out what's going on with the weapon. Why it was there, why it was left unattended. And at the end of the day, we'll present our findings to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office.'

'This is preventable,' he added. The report doesn't confirm whether all five children in the car were related, but none were older than 12, People reported.

'We have a 6-year-old girl who will no longer go to school,' Fitzgerald lamented. 'She can't grow up to be a Detroit police officer or work for any of the media outlets. It's really, really sad, but preventable.'

Officials Confirm Two More Recent, Similar Incidents

He confirmed that it's the second time their department responded to similar incidents in one week. On 1 March, another six-year-old accidentally shot herself on the shoulder with a gun she found at home.

'By the grace of God, the other injured child will recover,' Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield said in a statement. 'This is the second time in the past few days that a child in our city has been shot with a parent's unsecured gun.'

Noting a third similar incident from about two weeks prior, Sheffield said the most recent is tragic because it was an entirely preventable accident.

'The family tragedy that happened today on Gratiot and Harper is absolutely heartbreaking. I join the entire city in mourning the loss of this innocent child,' she asserted. 'What makes this even more heartbreaking is that it was completely avoidable.'

Accidental Firearm Injury Causes in the US

Unintentional injury is a leading cause of death among children and adolescents in the US, according to a 2023 CDC report. Firearms cause a significant number of injuries and deaths.

'Approximately half of unintentional firearm injury deaths among children and adolescents occurred at their home,' the report added. Most of these occur when victims play with or show 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.'