ATLANTA — A 1-year-old child is in critical condition at a hospital after she was shot in her home, according to Atlanta Police.
The toddler was hurt in the Adams Park neighborhood around 4 p.m., investigators said.
Officers set up crime scene tape in front of an apartment at Hidden Village Apartments in the 3000 block of Landrum Drive SW.
Police believe the girl, her older brother who is a pre-schooler, and their mother were the only ones in the apartment when the gun discharged. The mother was upstairs and the firearm was downstairs with the children, Lt. Ralph Woolfolk with the Atlanta Police Department said.
"At this point in time, this does appear to be an accident," he said.
Police originally said the child was rushed to the hospital alert and conscious. Woolfolk later received updated information that the toddler was in critical condition. She was transported initially to Grady Memorial Hospital.
Woolfolk said though it was "a tragic accident," charges could be filed. For now, he wants the public to understand the responsibility of owning a firearm.
"Please put guns away. This is now the second time in the past couple of months that we’ve responded to a scene in which a child has been shot, there was a weapon present inside of the residence," Woolfolk said.
He is urging firearm owners to make sure their weapons are properly stored and kept away from children.
"So please be sure to know where your weapons are and to place your weapons away," Woolfolk said. "We still have much work to do pertaining to this particular investigation, but as the preliminary indicators are, this was an accident."