Another tragic accident involving a child, how will this girl feel in the future?

Question

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1048974/Toddler-critically-ill-shot-head-sister-5.html

18 month old critically injured after being shot by his 5 year old sister.

How will this girl feel when she realises what she did? Its so sad.

Answer 1

She will probably never forgive herself...neither will their parents for not locking the gun cabinet before he took his phone call.

Answer 2

Tragic as ever,why guns are any where near children is unbelievable,but loaded,that's blatantly stupid

Answer 3

That is sad, but it's more the fault of the irresponsible parent who left kids alone with the firearms.

Answer 4

Yes it is very sad indeed, what was the father thinking of leaving a loaded air rifle about with a 5 year old child in the house, the father is entirely to blame for the incident. I hope everything is done to protect the little girl from any pain she might encounter in later years.

Answer 5

The girl will feel bad, but it won't take long before she realises it was the father who was at fault.

Answer 6

I'm sure the error of judgement will have a vast impact on everyone involved for a long time to come.

Answer 7

It was an accident, of course she will feel terrible but she is only 5 and she didn't know she was going to hurt her brother.

Answer 8

It is awful I think she will have a hard time dealing with this now and in the future. What was her dad thinking though leaving the gun loaded anyway he is ultimately to blame.

Answer 9

I hope that this does not affect the child for the rest of her life,  unfortunately I think it will do.  The poor girl will feel guilty about it no matter whether her brother recovers or not.

The parents should feel guilty, which kind of idiot leaves a gun with a five year old.  I hope they are severely punished, although I do feel the guilt will be their punishment.

As for the little boy I hope he makes a full recovery, although I have heard of too many cases where children have died this way

Answer 10

I've just read it, it is tragic....

But to leave a loaded gun there with kids, it is totally irresponsible...

Answer 11

unbelievable aint it, why would you have a gun of any description, legal or not around children and then be so silly as to leave the gun unattended why didn't he take the gun with him to the phone ?  x

Answer 12

it wont go well and its ironic how a RIFLE was used by a 5 year old including loading and locking and cocking etc

Answer 13

Poor kids what the h**l was the father thinking leaving a loaded gun lying around like that.. \

Gosh what a tragey for the whole family... They will all be affected by this event, end of story!

Answer 14

Guns and children in the same house are an accident waiting to happen.

Add to the mixture a careless father..........(left a loaded GUN within reach of small children!) and the outcome of this "accident" could have been much, much worse.

This litttle girl will be suffering and will probably need psychological support to get over it. So will the father , but it is difficult to have too much sympathy for him. He was "shooting at targets " in his back garden? Big boy with a dangerous toy.Children can injure themselves with absolutely anything, never mind weapons, having guns in the garden is not the act of responsible parents.

It´s like people who have dangerous dogs and small kids.

I hope the child improves soon.

Answer 15

Irresponsible parent leaving a loaded weapon around children ! I thought that the law was that you could not discharge an air weapon within a certain distance from houses. I wasn't aware that this law had changed !

Answer 16

Stormy, Sky were reporting this as the 5 year old being shot by the 18 month old child.

I really don't know what to think - the stupidity of some people make me want to scream.

We try and keep our kids safe and out of harms way, for someone to be target practicing and to leave a loaded weapon lying around when kids are around is unbelievably stupid.

Answer 17

The little girl did nothing wrong. She picked up what she thought was a toy, she never intended to hurt her brother. That won't stop her being traumatised though sadly, but the only person to blame here is her father. To play with an air rifle while your kids are present is stupid enough, but to leave it within their reach and loaded while you go off and do something else is absolutely unbelievable.

Answer 18

Poor kid must be pretty traumatised.  I hope she'll get good long term counselling to deal with her feelings; she needs to understand that it was not her fault.  

I can't understand how the father could be such a moron and I hope he is suffering torments of guilt over what he allowed to happen.

Answer 19

its not the childs fault its the gun owners responsibility to sort that out

my grandfather shot a hole in the ceiling while cleaning a loaded gun when drunk why was he allowed to keep a gun after that  

Answer 20

Who on earth fires guns of any kind in the proximity of small children?The parent is to blame.He should not have been firing it at all with his children there.

It needs to be made clear to her that the fault lies entirely with her father.She is as much an injured party as her brother really.

Answer 21

Very sad. Like Faith says, she will probably never forgive herself.

However, surely even the most brain dead parents know not to leave a gun lying around near children.

Answer 22

How did she get at the gun like? Its more her parents fault for leaving it in her reach than it is hers....she will be devastated though when she finds out what she did

Answer 23

tbh i am thinking all is not what it seems... if you have any kind of fire arm the FIRST thing you learn is abouty safety.. can a 5 year old really figure out the safety catch ?? in the seconds that her dads back was turned?.. i find it hard to believe..

edit just read your link (sorry i was commenting on what i saw last night on news )...but even so, the bloody stupid dad ..apart from the fact he was using a firearm around such young kids... he then left the gun ready to fire???? stupid bloody fool should be done for NEGLECT !!!

Answer 24

A foolish irresponsible parent who not only left a loaded gun where a child could get hold of it but was using the gun for 'target practise' while

his young children were in the garden

he lives in a terraced house - what about the children who could have been in the gardens of surrounding houses

Answer 25

Tragic.

But shooting at targets in the back garden while your kids run and play is  stupid in itself.Kids watching you having 'fun' with whatever is gonna want a go.

I can't believe he put the gun down to go answer the phone.

The poor little children,maybe one dead or left disabled for life,and another having to go through life knowing she done this.

I just hope she has counselling and  is made aware that it was the responsibility of an adult.Not her.

Answer 26

Wow, her Father is pretty crazy to leave a loaded gun around  kids, just where do these people get their parenting skills from !! :)

Answer 27

that is terrible people dont realise the dangers its all it takes,a single lapse,sometimes you need eyes in the back of your head,especially with little ones and at that age,as they copy everything we as adults do,i wouldnt care i have just switched on,the first question a seen was someone asking where they could buy an air rifle,then i seen this question,some will never learn,unless they are responsible,the father has to live with himself,its not the little girls fault,hope she isnt badly affected and that the baby is alright.