--- description: A 4-year-old girl in Indiana shot herself in the face and her mother in the head when she accidentally fired a gun. title: Indiana Toddler Accidentally Shoots Herself and Her Mother image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Guns](/tag/guns/) ## Guns Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Indiana Toddler Accidentally Shoots Herself and Her Mother  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 14, 2016 5:00 PM CUT  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 14, 2016 5:00 PM CUT A four-year-old girl in Indiana shot herself in the face and her mother in the head when she [accidentally fired the gun](http://www.indystar.com/story/news/2016/11/13/four-year-old-shoots-self-mother-head/93764874/ "undefined") on her parents’ bedside table, police [said](http://local.nixle.com/alert/5776877/ "undefined"). Officers from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department responded to the shooting Sunday morning, and said that the daughter is in stable condition and the mother is undergoing surgery, [police said in a statement](http://local.nixle.com/alert/5776877/ "undefined"). The father told officers the gun had been on the nightstand next to his bed and that his son was also in the room at the time, a police spokesperson told[ _IndyStar_](http://www.indystar.com/story/news/2016/11/13/four-year-old-shoots-self-mother-head/93764874/ "undefined")_._ “When officers arrived, they came into contact with the father of the 4-year-old who stated that he and his fiancé were asleep when he was awakened by the sound of the gunshot,” [police said](http://local.nixle.com/alert/5776877/ "undefined"). “He stated that his daughter shot herself in the face, and it is believed that same bullet struck his fiancé in the back of the head.” > [](https://twitter.com/IMPD%5FNews/status/797810428164378624) Last year, at least 265 children [shot themselves or others](http://time.com/4165289/child-shootings-unintentional/ "undefined") unintentionally. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4569966/indiana-girl-shooting/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4569966/indiana-girl-shooting/"},"headline":"Indiana Toddler Accidentally Shoots Herself and Her Mother","datePublished":"2016-11-14T17:00:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T01:48:41.027Z","description":"The girl is in stable condition and the mother underwent surgery","url":"https://time.com/4569966/indiana-girl-shooting/","keywords":["Guns","Crime"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Zorthian","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/guns/","name":"Guns"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4569966/indiana-girl-shooting/","name":"Indiana Toddler Accidentally Shoots Herself and Her Mother"}}]}] ```