A young girl from Detroit, Michigan, was found fatally shot on Friday inside her home on Kentucky Street after she was reportedly left home alone together with two other siblings.
Detroit Police Department Captain Lashanna Potts said during a press briefing shared on Facebook that officers were sent to the home at about 7:35 p.m. and found the 9-year-old girl with a gunshot wound inside a living room located on the second floor of the house. The shooting is believed to be an accident.
Potts said two men were taken into custody after they arrived at the home later. The relationship between the two men and the girl is currently unclear.
Two siblings who were at the house at the time of the shooting incident were both under the age of ten, Potts said, adding an investigation is ongoing.
“At the time there were two other children in the home, 10 and under. There were no adults that were at the location,” Potts said. “However, when officers were investigating, two males did arrive at the location.”
The police captain also said she hopes parents and adults stop leaving children alone at home and if adults own weapons, to put them out of reach and teach children the dangers of firearms if you own one.
“We are seeing this too often, we are imploring you to put your weapons up,” Potts said. “You cannot leave babies in a home by themselves and you definitely can’t leave them in a home by themselves and leave weapons that are laying around.”
“Right now, we got a mother who is devastated and we got siblings, for them this is going to be the worst day of their lives,” she continued. “Please, make sure you lock your weapons up, and when you leave your home, be sure you have an adult to watch your children.”
Investigators haven’t recovered the gun yet, though the ammunition magazine was found, police said.
It is also not clear who notified 911 dispatchers, though police confirmed the call was made at about 7:35 p.m. on Friday.
“We [never] want to see this. We don’t like gun violence period in the city of Detroit, but when you have babies that are dying at the rate that they’re dying here. It affects us all,” Potts said. “I don’t wanna come out to another scene like this,” she added.
Detroit has seen two fatal shootings of a child this week. On Wednesday, a 7-year-old girl was shot in the head in a drive-by shooting. She was rushed to a local hospital but died from her injuries.
To date, nobody has been arrested over the fatal shooting of Reginae Williams, authorities have confirmed they believe a blue Dodge Charger is the car the suspect was driving at the time of the shooting.
“If you know something, say something because I have to bury my 7-year-old baby,” Williams’ family told Fox 2 Detroit. “To the person who murdered my baby, I first would like to offer you Jesus Christ. … Please turn yourself in.”
