'These Tragedies Are Completely Preventable': 2nd Child Killed In Accidental Shooting In Philadelphia This Week
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- It's happened again, a child was killed in what Philadelphia police say appears to be an accidental shooting. This time, it was a little girl.
Police are still in the early stages of their investigation but acknowledge the incident is the second accidental fatal shooting that took the life of a child in Philadelphia in less than a week.
Philadelphia police rushed to the 5500 block of Whitby Avenue in Kingsessing around 9:30 p.m. Thursday, where they say a 10-year-old girl was struck in the head and later died.
Police didn't say if the child shot herself or if it was someone else.
"We all have the right to bear arms in our home, but we also have to be responsible," Deputy Police Commissioner Robin Wimberly said.
The shooting happened just days after a 10-year-old boy fatally shot himself by accident in Tioga-Nicetown.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said in a statement Friday, "these tragedies are completely preventable, and it is the responsibility of adults to keep guns out of the hands of our kids."
"It simply requires safely securing your firearms," Temple University Hospital Trauma Outreach Manager Scott Charles said.
Charles is a trauma advocate with Temple University Hospital, one of a number of places in the city that provides free gunlocks.
"A few years ago, I started distributing free gunlocks. It started with patients who were treated for gunshot injuries and they had kids and they would have guns and I'd say, 'why not lock up this gun,'" Charles said.
Also in Kingsessing on Thursday night, a 16-year-old boy was shot in the face, legs and chest and is now fighting for his life.
Charles says it's just too easy for criminals to get their hands on guns in the city.
"More and more children are being shot than ever before. I don't recall the time in the 16 years I've been doing this work that we've had this many kids shot," Charles said.
Police haven't yet said what lead up to that shooting.
To learn more about how you can get a free gunlock, click here.
For a list of gun violence resources in Philadelphia, click here.