REDFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. – The mother of a 5-year-old girl who was accidentally shot by her younger brother, who found a loaded gun, in Redford Township has a message for other parents with guns.
The shooting happened around 1:30 a.m. Monday inside a mobile home on Plymouth Road near Haggerty Road in Redford Township, police said.
Karina Norwood is recovering at Children’s Hospital after her 4-year-old brother found a loaded gun and accidentally shot her in the head.
“She’s a very good girl,” her mother, Melissa Kiser, said. “She loves everybody.”
Kiser said she woke up to the sound of the gunshot and crying.
“I heard Karina crying, ‘I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe,‘” Kiser said. “I got to her and she was bleeding.”
She said her 4-year-old son has trouble sleeping. He woke up, went into a back bedroom and unlocked a small closet, which had a loaded gun inside, Kiser said.
“He thought it was a toy gun,” Kiser said. “He didn’t realize that it wasn’t a toy gun.”
Thinking it was a toy, the boy went into his sister’s room and shot her in the head. It hit the top of her head and split it open, officials said.
Kiser said there’s a lot of damage, but her daughter should be OK.
“She’s doing very good,” Kiser said. “She’s responding. She’s healthy. She’s perfect. She’s smiling. That’s all that matters to me as a mother.”
Kiser said this is also a very hard way to learn a lesson.
“I just advise all you parents if you have guns to keep them away from your kids,” Kiser said. “Don’t let them be able to get them. A lock in the back room does not work. They’re easy to open and get to. My baby got to it.”
Kiser’s husband and a 1-year-old boy were also inside the home at the time of the shooting, police said.
The gun is registered to Kiser’s husband. It will be up to the Wayne County prosecutor whether or not to charge the parents.