Two toddlers shot by siblings in separate US incidents
Two toddlers shot by siblings in separate US incidents
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Saturday, 25, Jul 2009 11:21
By Lewis Bazley.
Two young children have been shot and injured by their siblings in two separate incidents in the US.
A two-year-old girl is in a critical condition after being shot by her four-year-old brother at their Las Vegas home, police said.
In South Carolina, a three-year-old boy shot his four-year-old brother in the stomach with a .22 calibre handgun, though the injured boy has undergone surgery and is expected to make a full recovery.
The Las Vegas shooting occurred when the wounded girl's brother found a loaded 9mm handgun inside their home.
"While the brother was holding the weapon it discharged, striking his sister's torso," said police spokesman Bill Cassell.
"At this time it appears the [boy] was able to gain access to the weapon because it was improperly secured."
In the incident in Gray Court, South Carolina, police believe the three-year-old brother found the weapon under a bed and accidentally shot his older brother when they and their father were staying overnight at a family friend's house.
Laurens County Sheriff Ricky Chastain commented: "Kids see things on TV, the toy guns, the three-year-old probably didn't know what he had as far as any intentions of hurting his brother.
"This is something the family will be dealing with for some time."
The shootings come less than a week after a five-year-old boy died after shooting himself in the head, having found a gun inside his father's vehicle outside a Las Vegas pharmacy.
His father, 31-year-old Alex Kopystenski, has been charged with child endangerment.