5-year-old kills 3-year-old in accidental shooting: police

A five-year-old child fatally shot a three-year-old in what police said was an accidental shooting in Minnesota early Friday morning.

Cass County Sheiff’s Office said they responded to a call in Bena, Minn., around 4 a.m. involving an accidental shooting.

A three-year-old girl was shot by a five-year-old boy in a house. The police did not elaborate on the relationship between the children or the gun that was used. It is also unclear how the five-year-old boy was able to access a firearm. 

Deer River Ambulance intercepted the family taking the little girl to the hospital in order to perform lifesaving efforts, police said. The girl died at Deer River Hospital the same day she was shot.

It is unknown what charges, if any, will be filed in the case. The Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office will perform an autopsy on the girl. 

There have been a total of 196 children who have died from gun shots aged zero to 11 this year in the U.S., according to the Gun Violence Archive.

Overall, the total number of gun deaths in 2021, not including those who died by suicide, is 12,670.