Oakdale Girl, Shot by Brother, Released from Hospital

“We wish her a speedy recovery,” said Michelle Stark, Oakdale police spokeswoman.

Police were called to a home at the 1800 block of Helena Road North just after 6:30 p.m. Friday and found the girl in an upstairs living room. She was shot with a .22-caliber rifle.

There were a total of five children in the home, along with the girl’s father and grandfather, Stark said.

Stark stressed gun safety, saying people should keep weapons and ammunition separate and use lockboxes and trigger locks.

The incident reports have been completed and were forwarded to the city and county attorneys for possible charges against adults who were present at the home, she said.

A Star Tribune article by Joy Powell outlined recent similar cases in Minnesota:

On June 27, Kao Xiong, 31, was sentenced to 10 years’ probation and community service in Hennepin County after his 4-year-old son found a gun behind a pillow and killed his 2-year-old brother on Dec. 5, 2012.

A jury convicted Xiong, of Minneapolis, of two counts of manslaughter and two counts of child endangerment.

Last August, a 2-year-old St. Paul boy survived a gunshot to the forehead after his 9-year-old brother got a loaded gun from an unlocked cabinet and accidentally shot him. Their father, Lue Xiong, 44, was convicted in December of negligent storage of a firearm, a gross misdemeanor.

He is serving two years’ probation with community service that includes speaking to the Hmong community about the dangers of unsecure firearms around children.

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