DETROIT – A 6-year-old girl died in an accidental shooting on Detroit’s east side on Monday.
The shooting happened at the parking lot of a shopping plaza near Gratiot and Harper on March 2 at around 12 p.m.
Detroit police said a 6-year-old girl was in a parked car with four other children while her mother went inside a store.
While the children were left unattended in the car, the 6-year-old girl was shot in the head with what police said was an unsecured handgun that was in the car.
The 6-year-old girl died from her injuries.
You can watch the full press conference below:
Mayor Mary Sheffield released the following statement:
“The family tragedy that happened today on Gratiot and Harper is absolutely heartbreaking. I join the entire city in mourning the lost of this innocent child.
What makes this even more heartbreaking is that it was completely avoidable. 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. By the grace of God, the other injured child will recover.
As a community, we cannot allow this to happen again. I have instructed my office of Neighborhood and Community Safety to work with DPD and other community partners to redouble our City’s collective efforts to educate the public on the importance of gun safety and to provide training and resources to protect our children."
Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield