4-year-old girl in life-threatening condition after being accidentally shot by siblings in northwest Miami-Dade home, police say – WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports
MIAMI (WSVN) – Emergency responders took a 4-year-old girl to the hospital after, police said, a sibling grabbed a gun and opened fire in what investigators are calling an accidental shooting.
According to Miami-Dade police, an adult was inside the home at the time of the incident Sunday afternoon at a home on Northwest 21st Avenue in northwest Miami-Dade.
According to investigators, the victim and other children between the ages of 2 and 6 were also in the apartment.
“Several people inside the location are screaming,” a dispatcher said in radio transmissions.
Police said a sibling picked up the gun and it went off, hitting the girl.
“We received a pediatric trauma alert,” a first responder said in radio transmissions.
Miami-Dade Fire Department rescue crews transported the young patient to Ryder Trauma Center, where she remains in critical condition Sunday evening.
“We now have a little 4-year-old child who will not be going to school tomorrow, who will not be enjoying the things that a 4-year-old child should be enjoying because of negligent gun possession,” said MDPD Detective Andre Martin. “We must take this matter seriously.”
Investigators are speaking to several witnesses about the incident in the house.
“A bullet travels at a very, very high speed, and you might think that you can get to that firearm in time, but in situations like this, that’s obviously not possible,” Martin said.
The incident, Martin said, came after a similar incident at an apartment complex in southwest Miami-Dade involving an unattended gun on Sept. 24.
“This is another situation like we had in our community not long ago, where once again a firearm was left unattended and a young person was injured,” he said.
In Sunday’s case, the gun was within reach, investigators said.
“The gun was stored in a way that was accessible to the children in this situation, and that’s how this happened,” Martin said.
The end result is a young victim fighting for his life in the hospital.
“Owning a firearm carries a great responsibility. It is a constitutional right, but responsible ownership of this firearm is of greater importance,” Martin said.
The shooting is still under investigation.
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