Roseville police: 4-year-old boy suffers fatal gunshot wound

Investigators working to figure out how child was shot inside home

ROSEVILLE, Mich. – Roseville police said a 4-year-old boy suffered a fatal gunshot wound that may have been self-inflicted Friday morning at a home on Dort Street.

Officers were called to the home about 8:40 a.m. on the report of a child shot. They found the 4-year-old boy with a gunshot wound to his torso. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.

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  • UPDATE: The father of the 4-year-old boy has been arrested and is charged with endangerment. He is set to be arraigned Friday afternoon. More charges are expected. Officials said the gun belongs to the father.

Police are working to figure out how this happened, why the child had the gun and where it is from. At first investigators believed the child shot himself, but now they are gathering more information that has them questioning whether this was a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Roseville Police Chief James Berlin said the child may have been shot by another child inside the home. There were five children in the basement when the shooting happened: the 4-year-old, another 4-year-old, a 3-year-old, a 5-year-old and an 8-year-old.

The boy's mother and father were at the Roseville Police Department. Berlin said they are working with a translator due to a language barrier between investigators and the parents.

No other information is available at this time. 

Dort Elementary School is in the area, but school officials said the school was not affected. The home where the shooting happened is just eight doors sown the street from the school.

Stay with ClickOnDetroit for updates to this developing story. 


About the Authors:

Local 4 Defender Shawn Ley is an Emmy award-winning journalist who has been with Local 4 News for more than a decade.