Police suspect teen died after accidentally shooting herself on video

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A 14-year-old girl died Wednesday after appearing to accidentally shoot herself while filming a social media video at an apartment in Northeast Washington, police said, citing a preliminary investigation.

In a statement, D.C. police said officers responded to a report of a shooting and arrived at an apartment on Benning Road NE shortly after 5 p.m. They found that the girl had suffered a gunshot wound to her upper body, and she died after officers attempted to provide lifesaving care.

The incident is still under investigation, but police said they believe the girl was handling the firearm while filming a video when it accidentally discharged. Others were present in the apartment, including at least one adult, D.C. police said.

It’s unclear who owned the firearm. D.C. police did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday evening.

D.C. Police Chief Pamela A. Smith called the incident a “devastating reminder of the dangers of weapons getting into the hands of young people in our city.”

“Firearms are not toys or props and they must be properly secured in a place where they can only be accessed by lawful gun owners,” she said.

Dozens of children and teenagers in the United States are accidentally killed by firearms each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In 2023, the most recent year with available CDC data, 143 people ages 19 and younger died after suffering an unintentional injury from a firearm. About three-quarters of unintentional child gun deaths between 2003 and 2021 involved a firearm that was stored loaded and unlocked, a 2023 study found.