Overview
- Detroit police say the child was shot inside a vehicle at a Gratiot and Harper plaza after her mother left five children in the car to get food.
- Investigators report an unsecured firearm was in the vehicle and have not determined where it was kept or whether the victim or another child fired it.
- Officers will submit the case to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office for review, and no charges had been filed in this case as of Tuesday night.
- In a separate incident a day earlier, a Detroit father was charged under the safe storage law after his 6-year-old daughter shot herself at home and survived.
- Police and safety advocates urge secure storage, noting Michigan requires unattended guns be locked when minors could be present, with free gun locks available and data showing unintentional child shootings declined in 2025.