Detroit police say 15-year-old was accidentally shot by her 13-year-old brother
Detroit police say a 13-year-old boy accidentally shot his 15-year-old sister in the arm Wednesday night at a city park.
"It's tragic," said Detroit police Captain John Stewart. "Both these children come from the same household."
Police responded to a 911 call at about 6:15 p.m. Wednesday that a teenager had been shot in a park near Eight Mile Road and Schoenherr.
The incident began with plans for the 15-year-old and another teenage girl to participate in a fight, according to initial reports. The 15-year-old girl was found to have a gunshot wound in the left forearm, and she was taken by medics to a hospital for treatment
While the weapon involved was confiscated that night, and two people were questioned, Stewart said it was not until later that police learned the 13-year-old boy actually had the pistol. The shooting itself appears to be accidental, but the circumstances that led up to it are concerning to police.
"We just find it alarming that a 15-year-old girl would go to a park to fight with her 13-year-old brother who is armed with a gun," Stewart said.
During his remarks, Stewart related frustrations that violent incidents have an increasingly younger track record among teens. A 15-year-old girl, he said, should be selecting a homecoming dance dress this time of year, and a 13-year-old boy should be looking forward to high school and what classes he might want to take when he moves up.
Instead, he said, the 15-year-old in this case already has a lengthy juvenile violation history. This includes recently being released from the Wayne County Juvenile Detention Facility.
Given that record, there have been "multiple chances" for a responsible adult to step in and direct her on a more appropriate path.
And now her brother is facing charges relating to the shooting. "There will be charges filed," Stewart said about the boy.
The fact that a 13-year-old boy was not only able to access a gun but had the willingness to use it is a detail that Stewart finds concerning.
"That should be troubling to anybody," Stewart said. "We really need to be more accountable and hold children responsible, and give them the gift of love in the form of discipline and in the form of accountability."
Stewart said the Detroit community has partnerships, mentoring, and other resources available to families who notice their youth are headed in the wrong direction. "But it starts at home," he said. "That first step of accountability, it starts at home."
Parental responsibility is a theme that Detroit Police have voiced previously this summer, including their efforts to invoke stricter fines over juvenile curfew violations. The Detroit City Council voted in late July to increase the parental curfew fines.