PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – A young Amish girl was flown to the hospital after she was shot with a shotgun this afternoon.

It happened at a farm in Lackawannock Township in Mercer County.

Police say the girl’s father was out shooting groundhogs and other rodents, when he put the shotgun down to go fishing.

Authorities say that’s when the incident happened and the 9-year-old girl was shot in her lower abdomen.

Pa. State Trooper Joseph Morris told KDKA TV News late Saturday Night, “there were several younger children we think caused the firearm to go off.”

“The rifle was left loaded and unattended in a pavilion, near a pond on the farm,” he added.

The girl is in critical condition.

Trooper Morris called the shooting a tragic accident, adding that the investigation was on-going.

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