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Horror as girl, 3, shoots herself while relative celebrates football touchdown
Featured Image Credit: WPLG Local 10/ WSVN

Horror as girl, 3, shoots herself while relative celebrates football touchdown

Footage caught the moment the young girl grabbed the gun and pulled the trigger

A three-year-old girl was rushed to hospital in Florida after shooting herself, while the relative looking after her celebrated a touchdown.

The grandmother of three-year-old Serenity, Robin Fuller, has claimed the young girl was supposed to be being cared for by her other grandmother when the incident took place on Saturday (23 September).

Instead, footage from the home in the 11000 block of Southwest 220th Terrace in Miami-Dade showed Serenity in the room with 23-year-old, Orlando Young.

Young, who is related to Serenity, told police he made breakfast for her then watched over her during the day.

He put on a football game while babysitting and jumped up to celebrate a touchdown, leaving a handgun on the sofa behind him in the process.

Serenity then climbed up onto the sofa and grabbed the gun before pulling the trigger.

Footage showed Serenity reaching for the gun.
WPLG Local 10

Speaking about the footage of the scene, Fuller told WPLG: "It looks as if she is getting ready to pick up the gun, the gun went off and I guess the bullet went through her finger."

Young told police he 'momentarily left his gun unattended on the couch because he was excited about a touchdown', according to his arrest report cited by CBS News Miami.

He heard a 'loud bang' and saw blood coming from Serenity's hand, prompting him to rush to her aid.

Serenity was taken to Homestead Hospital before being transferred to Nicklaus Children's Hospital for surgery on her hand. She has since been released from hospital.

“I called the police myself when I received the phone call and eventually the police arrived and they asked ‘Where is the baby?’” Fuller said.

“They are trying to save the finger so we are just going to pray that the blood flow goes back through."

Orlando Young rushed to Serenity's aid after the shooting.
WPLG Local 10

Serenity is now back home with her mother and is said to be in good spirits. She told police she played with the gun after finding it on the couch, at which point she accidentally shot herself in the right hand.

In the wake of the shooting, Fuller doesn't ever want Serenity to return to the home where the shooting happened.

Young has since been arrested on a child neglect charge and appeared in bond court on Monday. He is expected to appear in court again as he faces more charges for getting into a fight with an inmate.

Gun safety expert Phil Archer stressed the importance of gun safety following the incident, telling CBS: "As a firearms instructor it is always sad to hear about these stories. Safety is a huge thing and you have a responsibility when you have a firearm whether it is concealed or carried in any other fashion. It is really important.

"There are rules and one of the most important rules is that you have to keep that gun inaccessible to unauthorized persons especially children and we know that if you do not do that someone can get hurt and you can face criminal charges."

Topics: Health, Parenting, US News, Gun Crime