Sister kills brother in family gun tragedy

A SEVEN-YEAR-OLD girl shot her six-year-old brother dead while the two played with a .45-calibre handgun owned

The incident happened in Mississauga, Ontario, Saturday afternoon when the two young children were playing in a bedroom where they discovered the high-powered, semi-automatic pistol.

The girl pointed the gun at her brother and shot him, police said.

The boy was pronounced dead at Credit Valley Hospital a short time later.

The 22-year-old brother is in custody and faces charges of criminal negligence causing death and various firearms offences. Police said the handgun was not registered.

He later appeared in court in nearby Brampton, Ontario, yesterday.

The young boy and his sister, whose names were not released, had been under the care of their 18-year-old sister, who was elsewhere in the home, police said.

No charges were possible against the seven-year-old, police said.

Noel Catney, Peel Regional Police Chief, said: “I am deeply saddened by the tragic death of this child and the trauma this event has visited upon the family.”

Death by handguns are a rarity in Canada, where controls on firearm ownership are in place.

Under a new federal government programme Canadians had until New Year’s Day to register any firearms they own.

The gun registry has been the subject of much controversy with some gun owners in Ottawa and Montreal opposed to the plan burning their gun licenses.

The controversy was further fuelled when it was revealed the registry cost an estimated $350m to set it up, rather than the $1.2m that was promised.

Last August, a two-year-old boy in the US state of Ohio shot and killed his grandfather, authorities said.

The toddler was playing with a loaded .45 calibre gun, belonging to his grandfather, Thomas Hopps, at his home when the accident occurred.