1-year-old girl critical after accidental shooting at SW Atlanta apartment
Police investigate a child shot at a southwest Atlanta apartment complex on Dec. 10, 2021. (FOX 5)
ATLANTA - An infant was fighting for her life on Friday evening after an accidental shooting at a southwest Atlanta apartment.
"Preliminary indications appear that it was a tragic accident," Lt. Ralph Woolfolk, Atlanta Police Department Homicide Unit.
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It happened at the Hidden Village Apartments located on Landrum Drive SW around 4 p.m.
Atlanta police said officers arrived to find the 1-year-old girl suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. She was rushed to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston in critical condition.
Investigators said the child's mother was upstairs while the infant and her older brother were downstairs. At some point, police said the young boy, who is only a few years older than the victim, got ahold of the gun, and it went off, striking the infant.
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Police have yet to determine to whom the firearm belongs.
Authorities are reminding all gun owners to make sure their weapons are properly secured.
"Please put guns away. This is now the second time in the past couple of months that we responded to a scene in which a child was shot," said Lt. Woolfolk.
On Nov. 13, Atlanta police responded to an apartment about 1.5 miles east of this shooting. Police said a 14-year-old boy ran from the family’s Alison Court apartments for help after his 8-year-old brother was accidentally shot.
On Thanksgiving Day, a 5-year-old girl was accidentally shot by her 3-year-old cousin in South Fulton.
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