Kentucky: Boy, 5, accidentally kills sister with his own gun

USPA News - A two-year-old girl was killed in the state of Kentucky on Tuesday when her five-year-old brother accidentally shot her with a rifle he had been given as a birthday gift, local authorities said on Wednesday. It is unclear if the parents will face charges.

The incident occurred at around 1 p.m. local time on Tuesday when the five-year-old boy was playing with his .22 caliber rifle at his home in Burkesville, a rural town in Cumberland County of southern Kentucky. It happened as the mother briefly went outside while cleaning the kitchen, leaving the children unsupervised. Trooper Billy Gregory, a Kentucky State Police spokesman, said Cumberland County dispatch received the initial 911 call at approximately 1:03 p.m. local time. "The child was transported to the Cumberland County Hospital where she was later pronounced dead by the Cumberland County coroner," he said. An autopsy was carried out on Wednesday and the results are expected in about a week, but Coroner Gary White told the Lexington Herald-Leader that the death will be ruled accidental. "[It is] just one of those crazy accidents," he told the newspaper, identifying the 2-year-old victim as Caroline Sparks. The weapon was supposed to be kept in a corner of the mobile home, and the mother did not realize a bullet had been left inside. Police officials said they were investigating the incident and it was not immediately clear if the parents could face charges in connection with the girl`s fatal shooting. The boy had been given the rifle as a birthday present last year, and he reportedly used it to go hunting with his father. The shooting happened in a rural community where children sometimes get their first gun when they are just a few years old, as the guns are passed from generation to generation. The weapon involved in Tuesday`s accident is known as a Crickett rifle that was designed specifically for kids. "It`s a little rifle for a kid. The little boy is used to shooting the little gun," White said of the gun, that is marked under the slogan "My First Rifle." The company`s website that sells it features a special "Kid`s Corner" page that features photos of young children using rifles.