Mother's Day tragedy: Five-year-old kills brother with gun he found in the woods
A young child has accidentally killed his 12-year-old brother on Saturday after shooting him with an abandoned gun he found in the woods behind their home, according to police reports.
The five-year-old told officials that after coming across the weapon, he thought it was a toy and accidentally shot his brother in the chest, said the police department in Griffin, Georgia.
His brother was taken to hospital where he died from his injuries.
Before the incident happened, Griffin police revealed, officers attempted a traffic stop in the area, but three men escaped the vehicle and fled “behind houses in close proximity to where this shooting occurred.”
Police searched the area after the men fled and found a bag suspected to contain MDMA, but they found no weapons at the time.
“The children were out here peacefully playing in the backyard on the trampoline,” neighbor Tom Whitehead, who owns an auto body shop in front of the family’s home, told CNN affiliate WGCL.
“The little one found a gun ... Turns around, thinks he’s playing, says ‘bang bang.’ It was loaded and killed him.
“Think about that mother.
“The next day, Mother’s Day, and one boy is dead by the hand of his younger brother.”
The police department’s Criminal Investigation Division is looking for the person suspected of abandoning the gun.
A spokesperson for Griffin police told CNN they anticipate charges against those who discarded the gun and left it where young children were able to find it.
“We will leave no stone unturned as we search for the individuals responsible for the abandonment of this weapon,” police chief Mike Yates said in a statement.