6-year-old boy fatally shoots younger sister; parents arrested

A 6-year-old boy fatally shot his 5-year-old sister in their home in eastern Indiana and their parents have been arrested in the killing, police said.

First responders discovered the girl with a gunshot wound to the head early Tuesday afternoon at the home in Muncie, 60 miles northeast of Indianapolis. She was taken to IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, WTTV reported.

Jacob Grayson told investigators his 6-year-old son removed one of two loaded handguns from a safe and shot his sister, police said.

Grayson, 28, and his 27-year-old wife, Kimberly Grayson, were preliminarily charged with neglect of a dependent resulting in death and three other counts of neglect, Deputy Police Chief Melissa Criswell said.

The boy told police he found the key to the safe in his parents’ bedroom and removed the gun while his mother was napping.

The parents told police their son had opened the safe before, and Kimberly Grayson said she and her husband had taken the boy to a shooting range to teach him how to fire a handgun.

According to data analyzed by advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety, so far this year there have been at least 158 unintentional shootings by children in the U.S., resulting in 68 deaths and 99 injuries.

Earlier this month, an 8-year-old boy was shot and killed by his 5-year-old brother at an Arkansas home in what the local sheriff called a “tragic accident.”

Last month, an 8-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed a 1-year-old girl and injured a 2-year-old girl at a Florida motel.