Two young children have been shot and injured by their siblings in separate shootings in the US.
A two-year-old girl was fighting for her life today after being shot by her four-year-old brother at their Las Vegas home.
“While the brother was holding the weapon it discharged, striking his sister’s torso,” police spokesman Bill Cassell said.
Police were investigating how the boy got the 9mm handgun. Mr Cassell said their father was home when the shooting happened at about 8.30pm on Thursday. It was not immediately clear if he would face any charges.
“At this time it appears the (boy) was able to gain access to the weapon because it was improperly secured,” Mr Cassell said. The little girl was in a critical condition, he said.
In South Carolina, a three-year-old boy shot his four-year-old brother in Gray Court with a .22 calibre handgun.
The boys and their father had stayed overnight at a family friend's house when the younger brother woke up, found the gun under his bed and accidentally fired at his brother, Sheriff Ricky Chastain said.
The injured child has undergone surgery for a gunshot wound to his stomach and is expected to recover.
The shootings came less than a week after a five-year-old boy shot and killed himself with a handgun inside his father’s vehicle outside a Las Vegas pharmacy.
His father, 31-year-old Alex Kopystenski, has been charged with child endangerment.