DETROIT (WWJ) -- Detroit Police are investigating after a 6-year-old girl was found shot to death outside of a grocery store.
Police said the tragic incident happened at around noon on Monday in the parking lot of a shopping plaza on Gratiot Ave. at Harper, on the city's east side.
According to investigators, a mother left five children in a car unattended with an unsecured weapon while she was grocery shopping.
When one of the kids ran into the store to alert the mother to the gunfire, she came returned to the car to find her 6-year-old daughter shot in the head.
Detroit Police First Assistant Chief Charles Fitzgerald said this is third child shot with an unsecured weapon in the city, within the past week-and-a-half
"This is preventable," Fitzgerald told reporters. "We have Safe Storage for a reason; secure your weapons."
"We've got a 6-year-old girl who will no longer go to school, she can't grow up to be a Detroit Police officer, or work for any of the media outlets. It's really, really sad, but it's preventable."
It's not yet clear if the gunshot was self inflicted, or if one of the other kids fired the gun, as the investigation continues.
In a statement, Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield issued the following statement:
"The family tragedy that happened today on Gratiot and Harper is absolutely heartbreaking. I join the entire city in mourning the lost of this innocent child
"What makes this even more heartbreaking is that it was completely avoidable. This is the second time in the past few days that a child in our city has been shot with a parent's unsecured gun. By the grace of God, the other injured child will recover.
"As a community, we cannot allow this to happen again. I have instructed my office of Neighborhood and Community Safety to work with DPD and other community partners to redouble our City's collective efforts to educate the public on the importance of gun safety and to provide training and resources to protect our children."