4-year-old Kansas City girl accidentally shot in head

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Four young children were left alone in a room with a loaded handgun. Now, one of them is in critical condition after she was accidentally shot in the head.

The four-year-old girl was shot in a home in the 10500 block of Monroe just before noon, according to the Kansas City Police Department. She is in critical condition at Children's Mercy Hospital.

"It sounds like the gun was left on some type of chair and it's not exactly known what went down," said Marisa Barnes with KCPD. "The adult that was in the house left the room, heard the shot, came back in and the child was injured."

The kids are believed to have been being watched by the girl's stepmother at the time of the shooting.

Barnes said all four kids in the room were between the ages of four and six. Barnes said it is unknown which child pulled the handgun's trigger, but police consider the shooting "accidental."

"We don't mind people having guns to protect themselves, things of that nature, but you have to be responsible with it," Barnes said.

A neighbor living across the street said the woman banged on his front door just after the shooting, begging him to call 9-1-1. He said the family has lived in the neighborhood around 20 years.