Multiple children hospitalized after separate accidental shootings Sunday
Crime Scene
ARLINGTON, Texas - One child died and several others were wounded in separate shootings in Tarrant County over the weekend.
Several of the shootings appear to be accidental. In two of them, the shooter was a sibling of the victim.
The first happened early Sunday morning in the 3700 block of Mansfield Highway. Police said gunfire erupted at a large gathering. Two adults and one juvenile were hit. All three are expected to recover.
Then just before noon Sunday in Fort Worth at a home near Sycamore School Road and South Hulen Street. A 4-year-old boy identified as Truth Albright was shot and killed by one of his siblings, police said.
Fort Worth Crimes Against Children detectives said they are conducting interviews to get more details about what happened.
Just a few minutes later in Arlington, an 8-year-old girl was shot in the buttocks with a gun reportedly stolen near Austin.
It happened at an apartment complex near Arbrook Boulevard and South Collins Street. The little girl was taken to the hospital and is expected to be okay.
Initially, people at the scene told officers the girl sat on the gun and it went off. Investigators are still trying to verify that. Detectives are also trying to find out where the gun came from.
The most recent shooting happened around 4:30 p.m. Sunday at an Arlington home near Mansfield Webb Road and South Collins Street.
A 6-year-old boy was critically injured after being shot in the head with a rifle by his older brother. Police said the shooter is 10 or 11 years old and possibly has special needs.
Their parents were home at the time but police are not sure if they were in the same room.
A teenager told police he bought the rifle. Now the focus of the investigation is on whether that's true. And if so, how that teen bought it.
Police are also encouraging families to take steps to prevent these types of shootings from happening in the first place.
"We do a lot of community effort to talk about securing firearms, making sure that they're inaccessible to children because quite frankly guns and kids, they do not mix. Kids are curious. Kids will inherently try to pick up a firearm and that can lead to really deadly consequences," said Lt. Chris Cook with the Arlington Police Department.
A spokeswoman for Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth said doctors actually treated a total of five pediatric gunshot patients on Sunday alone.
Although she didn't have any details about the fifth victim or the severity of his or her wounds, she said the hospital is also working to educate parents about gun safety.