A three-year-old girl found a loaded pistol inside the bedroom and by accident shot and killed her four-year-old toddler sister Sunday night inside an apartment in Houston, Texas.
The girls were left in a bedroom alone by themselves. The three-year-old then found a loaded pistol and shot once, striking her sister, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said during the press conference.
The four-year-old girl was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to Gonzalez, the girls and their parents lived at the apartment.
Gun-toting Toddler
After hearing the gunshot, family members rushed to the bedroom, secured the firearm from the toddler, and reported the incident to authorities.
It is not clear whether any charges will be filed in connection with the shooting as the incident still remains under investigation.
The increase in gun-related deaths and injuries among children is driven by a huge upsurge in homicides, said Mark Bryant, executive director of the Gun Violence Archive.
That is partially the consequence of increased access to firearms, said Dr. Lois Lee, an associate professor of pediatrics and emergency medicine at Harvard Medical School.
As the buying and acquisition of guns escalated over the last two years, some states simultaneously lessened the restrictions on purchasing and carrying firearms, Lee said.
A Supreme Court decision in June also made it easier to carry firearms which prompted a flood of laws and lawsuits.
“As more and more households buy guns for whatever reason, more and more teens have ready access to improperly stowed weapons,” Bryant said. He noted firearm conflicts between teens often result being in others caught in the crossfire.
Dr. Samaa Kemal, a pediatric emergency medicine physician at Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, said contributing factors also include the worsening mental health crisis among kids and enduring hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, such as financial stresses, decreased community-based resources, and increased social isolation.
Parents’ negligence
The case of the 3-year-old shooting her 4-year-old sister in Texas is apparently not caused by financial stress or social isolation. It is due to a neglectful parent who is oblivious to the dangers of having a deadly weapon inside the home ignoring the fact that a toddler could have access to it.
NOTE: Screengrab from Pexels