Lillian Schrock

lschrock@dmreg.com

A 4-year-old girl was killed Monday night in what police are describing as an accidental shooting.

Officers were called to the Gray's Lake Apartments in the 2700 block of Fleur Drive about 7 p.m. to investigate a report of shots fired. They found the child with a gunshot wound, Des Moines police spokesman Sgt. Jason Halifax said.

The victim was transported by ambulance to Blank Children's Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, Halifax said.

Authorities are unsure if the girl fired the gun or if someone else shot her. However, he said, the shooting appears to be accidental. The girl was in the apartment where she lived with her parents and two younger siblings. No one else was harmed in the shooting.

"I just got done from dinner and heard a lot of people shouting and yelling the address of the apartment building. We opened the door to see what was going on and the police showed up and the ambulance. We didn't see anything until they brought the little girl out," neighbor Jessica Uren told WHO-HD.

The names of the victim and her family were not released Monday. And Halifax said it was too early Monday night to speculate if charges would be filed against anyone in the incident.

Halifax said police found more than one gun in the apartment. He said he didn't know what types of guns they were or what kind of gun was used in the shooting. Authorities also did not know who the guns belonged to. Halifax said police had not been called to the residence before.

"I see her every so often playing out on the deck so it's obviously very, very sad. It's a sad thing to see someone so young and cute and have that happen to," said neighbor Molly Harper in an interview with WHO-HD.

Des Moines police see a couple of accidental shootings a year, but they are not typically fatal, Halifax said. The most recent fatal shooting involving a minor was in October 2012, when Dontavius Sharkey, 16, accidentally shot friend Corey Hamilton Jr., 16, in the head.

"More often deaths associated with that age are not associated with gunshots," Halifax said.