3-year-old boy accidentally shoots 1-year-old sister to death in Fallbrook

By Caleb Lunetta | San Diego Union-Tribune

A 3-year-old boy accidently shot and killed his 1-year-old sibling with a handgun Monday morning that had been left unsecured in a Fallbrook home, sheriff’s authorities said.

The shooting happened at a residence on Stagecoach Lane near Reche Road around 7:30 a.m., the county Sheriff’s Department said in a news release.

Lt. Joseph Jarjura said he believed that the person who called 911 was a parent of the children. It was not immediately clear where the children’s parents were at the time of the incident.

Deputies arrived and found the 1-year-old girl, who had a “head injury,” Jarjura said. A single shot had been fired.

The child was taken to Palomar Hospital where she died an hour later. The Sheriff’s Department did not release the name of the child who was fatally injured.

The department’s Homicide Unit is working to gather more information about the incident, investigators said.

No one has been arrested in connection with the shooting, Jarjura said.

Fallbrook is near Camp Pendleton in northern San Diego County.

Investigators asked anyone with information about the incident to contact the Homicide Unit at (858) 285-6330 or after hours at (858) 565-5200. Anonymous tips can be made to Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.

This story originally appeared in the San Diego Union-Tribune.