While House Democrats did their best to force a vote on gun control bills in Congress yesterday with a sit-in yesterday in the hopes of keeping the House of Representatives in session ahead of the yearly Independence Day recess, once again we are struck with tragedy today. While the members staged their sit-in yesterday dozens were killed in gun violence at the same time and Thursday morning has seen a 5-year-old girl die from a gunshot would sustained in her home in North Philadelphia.
EMTs rushed to the Montgomery Townhomes on the 1800 block of N 18th Street, near W Montgomery Avenue, this afternoon to take the girl who was shot in the eye to Hahnemann Hospital where she died around 1 p.m., said Philadelphia Police
It’s believed that the child’s mother and three year old sister were at the location at the time of the shooting today. No word as to what happen was given my the same police spokesperson.
A weapon was recovered but the circumstances of the shooting on the 1800 block of North 20th Street remained under investigation, police said.
Upon the arrival of the police, they found the “mom on the front steps holding the little girl,” said Lt. John Stanford, a police spokesman.
Early in the afternoon, the mother was taken into custody by the PPD’s Homicide Unit.
Homicide Lt. Philip Riehl acknowledged that she was being questioned adding, “All we know is we have a 4-year-old girl who was shot with a gun who shouldn’t have been.”
The gun used was not identified by Riehl, but he said that the ATF was working to trace it to the registered owner.
While numerous male IDs were found at the scene, he refused to speculate as to whom was in the house when the gun was fired.
Asked if he thought it possible that the child accidentally shot herself, the homicide detective was quite dismissive and showed his frustration saying, “I very rarely think that 3-year-olds or 4-year-olds can pull the trigger on a gun with an 8-pound trigger pull.”
