5-yr-old girl kills self while playing with dad's gun in US

Houston, May 22: In a tragic incident, a five-year- old girl in the US has accidentally shot herself dead while playing with her father's handgun in Lousiana, media reports said on Sunday (May 22).

The girl, Haley Moore, was spending the weekend at her father's house with her elder sister and brother. Just before they were about to leave for a movie, she found her father's gun at the house and began playing with the firearm.

Her father told investigators that Moore was playing with the gun when she shot herself inside the home in Lousiana's LaPlace area yesterday, New York Daily News reported. The father was taking a shower when he heard a gunshot.

He rushed to the spot and discovered that his daughter had accidentally shot herself, investigators said. Authorities said the handgun had not been safely stored before the shooting occurred. Her father had left the .45-caliber gun on the table.

The sheriff's office said the shooting remained under investigation and additional information would be released "when warranted". Police said the bullet entered the girl's right chest and came out under her left arm. She died at a hospital yesterday.

The children's parents are divorced and the father gets visitation every other weekend, the report said.

PTI