A three-year-old girl in North Carolina died Tuesday after accidentally shooting herself in the head on Christmas Day when she found a loaded handgun a guest at her family’s holiday celebration had in his unlocked truck, USA Today reports.
Aylee Gordon was outside playing with her new bicycle on Christmas afternoon when family members heard a gunshot and found the girl lying in the yard. She apparently found a loaded 9 mm handgun, which discharged and shot her in the head. It is unclear if Aylee removed the gun from the pickup herself, or if someone else did. She was airlifted to a local hospital for treatment, but died three days later.
The N.C. State Bureau of Investigation and the Henderson County District are investigating the incident, but have not yet filed charges. In other recent cases, the owners of guns used by children in shootings have been charged with crimes: the parents of a 13-year-old Pennsylvania boy are being charged after he shot and killed his five-year-old brother, and in Minnesota, and the parents of the Oxford, Michigan school shooter are charged after their mentally-disturbed son killed four and wounded seven.