A 4-year-old Detroit boy was shot by his 9-year-old brother, who found a gun in the family's home, police said. The children's parents were not home, according to authorities.
A 4-year-old Detroit boy was in serious condition after being shot in the head by his 9-year-old brother, who was playing with a gun he found in the family's home, police said. At least three young children were alone in the house when the shooting occurred, according to authorities.
The boy was shot in the cheek, and the bullet traveled into his shoulder, Detroit Police Department Assistant Chief Charles Fitzgerald told reporters Thursday.
The child is expected to recover, he said.
The boys had gone into an older brother's bedroom where they knew a gun was being kept and began to play with it, Fitzgerald said.
"You can heal from these kinds of scars, but you've got the mental wounds as well," Fitzgerald said. "Not only the older brother — when I say older brother, he's still just a child, he's a little boy himself — pulling the trigger and shooting his brother. And then, the wounds that the brother is going to have."
The gun was not locked up and did not have a trigger guard, police said. The boys' 11-year-old sister was also inside the home, authorities said.
Investigators were trying to determine why the older brother had the gun, which was registered to someone in another city, Fitzgerald said.
It was the second accidental shooting of a child this month in Detroit. On Oct. 3, an 8-year-old boy was left in critical condition after being shot in the head with a weapon that was unsecured.
The assistant chief urged residents to put gun locks on their weapons.
"We give them out at every precinct," he said. "We will bring them to you."
"Here we are again," Fitzgerald said. "You have to secure these weapons. Being a parent is a huge responsibility."
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