DYERSBURG – A four-year-old girl is in critical condition after what appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound Sunday night.
Dyersburg police officers responded to a shooting of a child just prior to 10 p.m. They arrived to find no one at home, according to the police report. Officers entered and found blood inside the home. After clearing the home, one of the residents returned.
The resident told officers he had been asleep when his girlfriend woke him and asked about their daughter, according to the report. The man said he checked on his daughter and saw her on the couch.
The man said he could not awaken his daughter and called for an ambulance and police before transporting his daughter to the hospital on his own.
The man said he left a handgun unsecured in the living room prior to going to sleep. He said he forgot to retrieve and secure the gun, according to the report. The case is still under investigation.
“This is a terrible situation,” said Dyersburg Police Chief Thomas Langford. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the child and her parents. It underscores the necessity to keep all firearms secured and out of the reach of children.”
