Six-year-old child accidentally shoots grandmother in Florida, police say

A six-year-old girl in Florida accidentally shot her grandmother Thursday, leaving her with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

The drive-by shooting occurred shortly before 3 p.m. Thursday, when the girl grabbed the firearm in the back seat and accidentally fired a shot through the driver’s seat, hitting her 57-year-old grandmother in the lower back, police said. .

The grandmother drove home — in the 4200 block of Tollefson Avenue in North Port, a city about 50 miles northwest of Fort Myers — and called 911.

Emergency medical personnel airlifted her to Sarasota Memorial Hospital, and authorities at the Child Protection Center, a local nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing child abuse, interviewed the girl.

The investigation is continuing, police said, adding that “explanations support an accidental discharge.”

Police Chief Todd Garrison called the incident “an unfortunate example of the importance of gun safety.”

The gun was originally in a holster, in the back pocket of the driver’s seat, under a seat cover, police said.

“Please take appropriate measures to ensure that children do not have access to firearms,” ​​Garrison added. “It could be worse not only for the grandmother, but for the child.”

The six-year-old in Virginia was shot more than a month later Shot his teacher on purposeHe was seriously injured at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, a town about 30 miles northwest of Norfolk, police said.

This article was originally published NBCNews.com