A 4-year-old boy was shot and killed by his 4-year-old female cousin while they were playing with a gun, Detroit police said.
The shooting happened Thursday in a home on the city's west side.
There were three children -- all cousins -- at the home at the time of
the incident, said Detroit Deputy Chief Rodney Johnson. The third child
was 5, he said.
Detroit Police Public Information Officer Adam Madera said the children
found a "long gun" under a bed, pulled it out and began to play with it.
"At this time, although it's early in the investigation, this appears to be a tragic accident," Madera said.
There was an adult present in the house, but that person was a family friend and unrelated to the children, Johnson said.
"It's too early to say if charges will be filed in this case," Johnson said.
This is the latest incident involving children who accidentally shoot someone or die of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
In October, a babysitter in Vidor, Texas, was charged after her
5-year-old charge fatally shot himself with her gun, police said.
Two weeks earlier, a 2-year-old girl fatally shot herself in
Fayetteville, North Carolina, and the