5-Year-Old Shoots Girl, 3, In Colorado While Mother Was Home: Neighbors Not Surprised

A 5-year-old shoots a girl while holding a handgun in the backyard their home. FOX News reports that the shooting happened in Pueblo, Colorado on Monday. The 5-year-old was messing around with the gun before pointing it at the 3-year-old. The girl is reportedly in critical, but stable condition at the hospital.

The 5-year-old’s gender isn’t revealed.

Police say a 9-year-old boy retrieved the gun from the house, and the 5-year-old pointed it at the girl. The victim’s mother was home at the time of the shooting, but her identity hasn’t been released. Adrian Chavez, 22, is the gun owner and is arrested and will face child abuse charges.

KRDO gives more details on the incident on where the child shot the girl. It happened at 3200 block of Colfax Ave. just after 10 am on Monday. The 9-year-old, who got the gun from inside the home, was able to “manipulate the gun.” When the 5-year-old got hold of the weapon, the 3-year-old girl was accidentally shot. She was flown to Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs where she underwent surgery.

Neighbors aren’t shocked about this story. In fact, Michelle Hernandez and her husband, Matthew, thought some other tragedy might have occurred with the family living near them. Matthew Hernandez says:

“We thought it would more likely be a kidnapped kid or a kid getting run over in the street.”

The couple say it was normal to see the kids unsupervised for hours outside. They contacted the Department of Social Services just last week because they were so concerned about the children. Matthew shares:

“I don’t know if it was naïve to think that OK, I called the Department of Social Services, I emailed a director, surely something will happen…they’ll step in the house, they’ll intervene.”

A case worker never arrived, Michelle and Matthew said. Michelle wishes she would have called police first before social services. She says:

“I think we should have called the police. I regret not doing that first to have them do a welfare check.”

Police say the girl’s mother and her boyfriend, who was arrested, Adrian Chavez, were at home when the shooting happened. He fled the house; he has a warrant for failure to appear. Police arrested him at 3:15 pm.

Pueblo Police say that the 5-year-old won’t be charged in this case, but Chavez will for leaving the gun accessible for children to get a hold of.

The 9-year-old apparently let police know he learned to manipulate the handgun by playing video games.

[Image via Prairie Village Post]