7-year-old accidentally shoots and kills 5-year-old in Kentucky

A 7-year-old child accidentally shot and killed a 5-year-old in Kentucky on Monday, according to the Kentucky State Police.

Police were alerted to the shooting at a Jackson County home around 5:30 p.m., where they tried to save the child to no avail.

"Foul play is not suspected," read the police statement.

Guns are the leading cause of death among U.S. children and teens, with rates of gun deaths rising 50% in just two years, according to a Pew Research analysis of CDC data.

So far this year, more than 800 children and teenagers have been killed by guns — a number that includes homicides and suicides — according to the Gun Violence Archive. 

This marks just one of the multiple instances of accidental shootings between children this month. Earlier this month, a 4-year-old girl was accidentally shot and killed by another child in Illinois. 

A week later, a 6-year-old boy shot his infant sibling twice after getting a hold of a gun in Detroit. The sibling was hospitalized for their injuries but survived.

In the first week of June, a 3-year-old boy died after accidentally shooting himself in Tennessee.

In:
• Gun
• Shooting
• Gun Violence
• Shooting Death
• Tennessee
• Kentucky
• Michigan

C Mandler

C Mandler is a social media producer and trending topics writer for CBS News, focusing on American politics and LGBTQ+ issues.