Boy, 5, shoots infant sister dead

A five-year-old boy shot his 11-month-old sister dead on Tuesday at Mahdia.
The boy was playing with the gun, which his father allegedly found, when he accidently discharged the lone round which hit his sister, Cleoma Patterson.

The police in a statement yesterday said that the incident occurred at around 1.30 pm on Tuesday at Mahdia Airstrip Road. The father of the children, a miner, according to police, claimed that he found the .38 Rossi revolver with one live round on Tuesday while working in the backdam.

He said he was taking the gun to the Mahdia Police Station but stopped at his home on the way.

He reportedly left the firearm on a table in the home and was downstairs with his wife when their son came home from school, went upstairs and found the weapon. While he was playing with it, he caused the round to be discharged and it hit his sister in her head. She was pronounced dead on arrival at the Mahdia Hospital, the police said.