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10-year-old Philly boy, home alone with younger sister, finds gun and shoots himself

A 10-year-old Philadelphia boy is dead after he found a loaded gun and shot himself in the head.

Police say the boy had been left home alone Saturday with his 8-year-0ld sister in the Tioga-Nicetown section of north Philadelphia, WPVI reported.

“Supposedly there was a gun inside a cabinet that the children located and, at some point, the child discharged the weapon into his own head,” said Philadelphia Police Capt. Lee Strollo. “We’re looking into how the gun got on location and who the owner of the gun is.”

Police said the sister ran to a neighbor’s to call for help.

Strollo said the gun was “freely accessible to the children and should have been “in a locked box with only the adult owner having possession of that key.”

“Another one of our precious children has died as the result of gunfire,” said Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw. “As a community, we must all strive to do better in keeping guns out of the hands of our kids.”

Police said charges may be filed against the owner of the gun.

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[Featured image: Shutterstock]