Mother held after 2-year-old son shoots 1-year-old daughter

A woman has been arrested in the US after her one-year-old daughter was accidentally shot in the face by her two-year-old son.

Crystal Kinchen, 23, was arrested in Louisiana on Wednesday and faces a charge of second-degree cruelty to a juvenile, Baton Rouge Police said.

Sergeant L'Jean McKneely said the shooting happened on Tuesday night while the two children were alone in a car parked at a shopping centre.

Police said the two-year-old boy picked up a gun that was left in the vehicle, and it accidentally discharged and struck the one-year-old girl.

Mr McKneely said the family drove the child to the hospital rather than waiting for an ambulance.

The one-year-old is in a critical condition.