4-year-old girl killed cousin in Detroit

A four-year-old American girl shot dead her four-year-old cousin while they were playing at their grandfather’s home in Detroit, Michigan, on Thursday.

The shooting happened after the girl found a loaded rifle under a bed while they were playing in the back bedroom of their grandfather’s home.

She then pointed the gun at the cousin and shot the boy once in the chest. The boy was later pronounced dead at hospital.

According to police, the grandfather was the only adult who was at home at the time of the shooting.

Authorities called the accident unavoidable and tragic. “It’s a tragic incident,” Detroit police Sergeant Michael Woody said. “It’s really not anything more than that. There was no malicious intent.”

“This is a very senseless… incident that could have been avoided,” he said, adding the incident strengthened the need to keep firearms secure, particularly around children.

On Friday, police said a man is in custody on a charge of possessing a weapon as a felon and a woman is being kept in custody on an outstanding warrant.

Police Capt. Rodney Cox called the shooting a “tragic, tragic accident”. He said the department stands behind responsible gun ownership, but “preliminarily, this does not appear to be responsible gun ownership.”

“This is an example of how we must maintain gun safety,” Cox added.

A recent poll found that an estimated 40 percent of households in the United States have at least one gun owner.

Critics blame the notoriously liberal gun control laws in the US for the high rate of gun violence in the country.