A five-year-old girl is fighting for her life after she was shot by her three-year-old brother inside their home in Washington D.C., police said.
The younger child grabbed an unsecured firearm, which police said was a ghost gun, and accidentally shot his sibling inside an apartment complex in the southwest section of the city at approximately 6:30 p.m. on Monday.
Their mother had left the children at home in the care of a family friend when the shocking incident occurred, police said.
Police responded to reports of a shooting and found the girl suffering from a gunshot wound to the upper body. They administered life-saving first aid before the child was transferred to a children’s hospital.
She remains in hospital with critical injuries.
“The child right now is in critical condition. It’s such an unfortunate incident. We cannot talk about gun safety enough,” Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith said at a press conference on Monday.
“Again, when we have firearms in our homes there’s an expectation that we are to keep our firearms locked up, especially away from our children,” he emphasized.
Two people have been arrested in connection with the shooting.
D’Jaunae McCrory Jackson, 21, identified by police as a sibling of the five-year-old girl, was charged with negligent storage of a firearm, prohibited possession of certain dangerous weapons, first-degree cruelty to children, and other gun-related charges, authorities said.
Darrel Graham, 59, was inside the house when the incident occurred and was arrested at the scene. Police said he has been charged with first-degree cruelty to children.
McCrory Jackson allegedly assaulted an officer who responded to the call and was additionally charged with simple assault on a police officer.
The investigation is ongoing.
