Fatal shooting of girl an accident by sibling playing with a handgun, according to search warrant

HANOVER TWP. — The fatal shooting of an 8-year-old girl inside a Fellows Avenue apartment was caused by an older sibling playing with a handgun early Monday morning, according to a search warrant.

The girl sustained a gunshot wound to her back as her 12-year-old brother removed a .380-caliber semi-automatic handgun from its case that was in a dresser drawer, the search warrant affidavit says.

Emergency medical technicians rushed the girl to Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in Plains Township where she died shortly after arrival.

The girl was a second-grade student at Lee Park Elementary within the Hanover Area School District.

District Superintendent Nathan Barrett in a letter to the Hanover Area community on Monday stated grief counselors would be available to faculty, staff and students.

Police responded to the apartment in the 500 block of Fellows Avenue near Scureman Street at about 3 a.m. Monday where they encountered a 15-year-girl, who led officers to a third-floor bedroom where the 8-year-old was lying on the floor, according to the search warrant.

Officers noted the girl had a single gunshot wound to her back.

Police recovered an unloaded Sig Sauer .380-caliber semi-automatic handgun on a coffee table on the second floor. A spent projectile was recovered on the floor of the girl’s bedroom and a magazine with two rounds on a bed, the search warrant says.

The boy told police, the search warrant alleges, he partially opened the gun case and began playing with the firearm when it accidentally fired.

Police in the search warrant say they recovered a gun case that was secured with a gun lock from a dresser drawer on the third floor.

District Judge Joseph Carmody of West Pittston signed the search warrant that authorized police to seize the firearm, ammunition and recordings by video and audio.

Pennsylvania State Police, Troop P, Forensic Services Unit processed the scene.