A FOUR-year-old girl was accidentally shot dead in the Arizona desert by her eight-year-old sister.

The older girl was target-shooting with a .22 calibre firearm about 10.30am local time yesterday in a remote area between Wickenburg and Morristown, northwest of Phoenix, when her younger sister darted in front of her and was shot in the head, myFOXphoenix.com said.

The four-year-old, whose name was not released, was airlifted to St Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix, where she was pronounced dead about 11.30am.

Police said the siblings were with their parents and another family of two children and a parent at the time of the shooting.

The incident was being investigated as an accidental shooting, police said.

Read more at myFOXphoenix.com.