5-year-old killed, 8-year-old critically injured after child fires shotgun in Kansas

A 5-year-old girl was killed and an 8-year-old boy was critically injured after a young child picked up a loaded, unsecured shotgun and fired it at a home in rural Kansas, according to officials.

The shooting happened at about 3:15 p.m. on Saturday at a residence in Brookville, a small community in central Kansas west of Salina, according to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI). A caller reported that two children had been severely injured.

Deputies from the Ellsworth County Sheriff’s Office, troopers from the Kansas Highway Patrol, game wardens from the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks and EMS responded to the home and rendered aid to the two children.

The 5-year-old girl died at the scene despite life-saving efforts, the KBI said. The 8-year-old boy was flown to a hospital in Wichita and remains in critical condition.

Preliminary information indicates that a young child picked up a loaded, unsecured shotgun and fired it, striking the two siblings, according to officials. Authorities did not release the age of the child who fired the gun.