Child finds gun in closet, shoots 4-year-old cousin

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The father of a four-year-old girl who was shot in the leg was detained at the hospital for what sources are calling "investigative purposes." It was a close call for this girl and a lesson to other parents and children.

We saw glimpses of a 10-year old boy, detained by police, going from one police car to another. Police say the boy shot his four-year-old cousin. A family friend told Eyewitness News it was an accident.

Family friend Robert Wilkins said, "The gun was actually, it was secured. It was just a matter of lack of supervision."

Wilkins said it was a lack of supervision by a mother. The boy, according to investigators, was in the home playing with a number of other children when he found a rifle in an upstairs closet and thought it was a toy.

Neighbor Patricia Allen said, "As a parent, you should always put a lock on your gun to make sure the gun is safe."

The boy's mother was the only adult in the home. The four-year-old girl was hit in the leg and rushed to the hospital, but she's expected to be OK.

"I just think that you need to have a responsible person over the children," Allen said.

Neighbors, stunned by the news, told us they rarely see any adults in the home. Police detained one woman. She hid her face in a scarf after being released by police.

Neighbor Darrell Demerson said, "You have people not being responsible, that's the kind of stuff that happens."

Sources say the four-year-old's father was detained at the hospital, taken in for questioning. More questions are being asked by Child Protective Services.

No one has been charged with a crime. Sources say the mother of that four-year-old girl did not live in the home and did not know there was a gun inside.