6-Year-Old Girl Fatally Shot as Father Examines Gun
A 6-year-old Spring Valley girl died Monday night after being shot in the head by her father, apparently accidentally, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department reported Tuesday.
The shooting occurred at about 7 p.m. as the girl’s father was examining a makeshift gun he had found near his home, said sheriff’s Sgt. Bonita Bashe.
Kristine Anderson was taken to Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa by her father and was transferred to Children’s Hospital in San Diego, where she died at 9:30 p.m.
Robert Anderson, 34, told deputies he found the homemade firearm near the front of his home in the 3100 block of Sweetwater Road. The device was made to look like a walking stick and was operated by a spring-loaded mechanism, deputies said.
Anderson and a friend were examining the gun in the living room of the family’s home when it discharged, Bashe said.
Anderson was not arrested, but homicide detectives will forward the report of their investigation to the district attorney’s office.
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