LOS ANGELES, July 20 (Xinhua) -- A grandfather was arrested Friday for child endangerment after a four-year-old boy got hold of his gun and fatally shot the man's two-year-old granddaughter in San Bernardino, California, said police.
The shooting happened at 9:16 a.m. local time (1616 GMT). Deputies and medical aid arrived and found the two-year-old victim suffering from a gunshot wound. The toddler died about 50 minutes after being hospitalized.
Investigators determined that the four-year-old boy, the victim's cousin, got access to the weapon and shot the girl by accident, according to the local sheriff's department.
The boy's 53-year-old grandfather, Cesar Lopez, was arrested and will be booked for child endangerment and felon in possession of a firearm.
A 72-year-old neighbor of the family called the news "devastating" and told a local news outlet, the San Bernardino Sun, that people who got guns have to lock them up so children wouldn't have access to them. Another neighbor said it was an unfortunate accident and she could not understand how a boy as young as four could be left alone long enough to find a gun.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said an investigation is underway.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, an independent data collection and research group that provides free online public access to accurate information about gun-related violence in the United States, there have been altogether 7,982 people killed in gun-related violence in the country to date in 2018, including 381 children under the age of 11.
