Boy, 5, fatally shoots sister, 2, with .22-caliber rifle he reportedly got as gift

BURKESVILLE, Ky. – A southern Kentucky coroner says the mother of a 2-year-old girl fatally shot by her 5-year-old brother had just stepped away from the children when the shooting occurred.

Cumberland County Coroner Gary White tells WKYT-TV that the mother said she had been outside on a porch for "no more than three minutes."

"It's a Crickett," White told the Lexington Herald Leader. "It's a little rifle for a kid….The little boy's used to shooting the little gun."

He continued, "Just one of those crazy accidents."

Kentucky State Police say the girl was shot Tuesday afternoon in Cumberland County and was later pronounced dead.

Cumberland County Coroner Gary White told the Lexington Herald-Leader the boy received the .22-caliber rifle as a gift and is used to shooting it. He said the rifle was kept in a corner and the family didn't realize a shell was left inside it.

White says the shooting will be ruled accidental. An autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday.