DETROIT (WXYZ) – A 4-year-old girl was seriously injured Friday after being shot twice by her own mother.
Detroit police said it was accidental and the mother claims she was cleaning her gun when she was discharged.
However, investigators said the mother initially made up a story to transfer the blame.
Police said the incident happened around 3 p.m. on Brush Street near East Grand Boulevard
“Well, I hate that this happened here because I’ve known this family my whole life,” one building tenant told 7 Action News.
“Mom, I helped when she herself was a child, when she was little. The whole family is like my family.”
The neighbor, who asked to remain anonymous, said he was surprised to see police in and around the building soon after coming home.
“We are going through a lot of information right now. The way the phone came from the hospital, and we are trying to do everything that mom is telling us,” said Detroit Police Department Chief James White.
White said the woman initially told detectives that a man tried to snatch her purse as she and her 4-year-old daughter broke into their apartment. After fighting him, the woman claimed that the man fired several shots, which hit the little girl, and then fled into a pickup truck.
“Despite this story coming together, the bottom line is that we’ve got a 4-year-old who has been shot in this house,” the chief said.
Police said the story came to light about 30 minutes after the press conference with the chief. Officers told 7 Action News that the woman admitted there was no attempt to snatch the purse, there was no robber and that she accidentally shot her child twice while cleaning her gun.
“She’s a nice little girl. No one deserves a bullet. Nobody,” said the neighbor.
Police said the child was expected to survive.
Mother was taken into custody. No weapon has been recovered till Friday night.