12-Year-Old Michigan Boy Accidentally Kills Teenage Girl After Firing Loaded Gun

A 12-year-old boy in Michigan accidentally shot and killed a 15-year-old girl while playing with a gun he found in a safe.

The Ontwa Township Edwardsburg Police Department were sent to Maple St. in Ontwa Township Sunday after a shooting incident was reported. The police said while the case looks like an accident, they are still investigating the incident. Local media reported, citing a witness, the gun was taken from a safe.

The police said the boy believed the gun was not loaded and pointed it at the teenage girl, ABC57 reported. He then pulled the trigger and injured the girl, who was later declared dead. Both the suspect and the victim have not been identified.

According to WNDU, the police questioned the suspect but did not arrest him. It was not revealed how the suspect and the victim were related.

The Ontwa Township Edwardsburg Police Department was assisted on scene by Cass County Sheriff’s Office, Edwardsburg Ambulance Service and Edwardsburg Fire Department. The body of the victim was sent for an autopsy.

The police urged anyone with information about the incident to contact the Ontwa Township - Edwardsburg Police Department at 269-663-8444.

Such incidents are not rare across the country. In April, a 3-year-old boy in Louisiana died after he accidentally shot himself while his father was making lunch. The father was taken into custody for questioning. "This appears to be a tragic accident," Baker Police Chief Carl Dunn said, while speaking to the media at the time. "Little boys and girls are curious, and tragic things like this can happen."

In January, a 1-year-old girl in Mississippi was accidentally shot with an assault rifle. The victim was rushed to LeBonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis with a gunshot wound to her right hand. “I was at the store and my sister called me and said my baby shot herself with an AK-47, but anybody that’s smart would know a 1-year-old can’t shoot themself with no AK-47,” the child's mother Alexis Johnson, who went live on Facebook at the time, said. The police said the victim's 4-year-old cousin was playing with an assault rifle when it went off and the bullet struck the girl. The victim underwent multiple surgeries and was in a stable condition.

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