Eutawville neighbors shocked by 6-year-old’s shooting death
EUTAWVILLE, S.C. - Neighbors are reeling from news that a 6-year-old girl has died in Orangeburg County after what officials are calling an accidental shooting.
“It’s really shocking. I used to be a teacher so looking at it, the kids weren’t in school, so it’s kind of like – I don’t know but it’s hard,” said Jessie Mott.
Orangeburg County deputies said they learned the girl had been shot in the head around 3:40 p.m. Wednesday by her 7-year-old brother.
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“People so young, playing with guns – it’s not good,” said Barry Hutson. “You got a child that doesn’t have a life because of a serious mistake, and it’s an ongoing problem in the whole world.”
Orangeburg County Chief Deputy Chandra Gibbs spoke on the efforts by officers.
“Our job there was to as much as we could provide immediate assistance and working with our EMS to secure the scene so that they could get in a provide immediate medical care and get her transported to our local hospital,” said Gibbs.
Gibbs says the girl was transported to MUSC Orangeburg hospital but later died. She urges families to have a conversation about gun safety in the home.
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“We’re focusing on making sure that we’re providing that care for them while maintaining education to other families across our county to make sure that they are having those conversations in their homes and we are also engaged in those conversations as well as far as education and awareness in keeping guns secure,” said Gibbs.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division has taken the lead in the investigation. There are still many questions, such as whether the parents will face any charges, where the 7-year-old found the gun, and where adults were at the time of the shooting.
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“My heart is extremely heavy at having to let the public know what happened. This type of incident, this type of investigation, is one of the hardest an investigator will ever do,” Sheriff Leroy Ravenell said.
“We are broken-hearted over this tragic loss of a little princess,” Ravenell said.
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