14-Year-Old Girl Shot In Face While Staying At Friend's House In Rhawnhurst, Say Philadelphia Police
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PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - A 14-year-old girl has been rushed to the hospital after she was shot in the face in the city's Rhawnhurst section. The shooting happened on the 2000 block of Glendale Avenue, around 10:22 a.m. Monday.
Police say the girl is from Montgomery County and was staying with a friend in Rhawnhurst. According to investigators, someone inside the house was horsing around with a gun when the girl was shot in the face.
Northeast Detectives got a search warrant and removed two long guns and two handguns from a home where police say a teenage girl was shot in the face Monday morning.
Police commissioner Richard Ross evaluated the crime scene before speaking with reporters.
"Fortunately, she is in stable condition," Ross said of the girl. "It appears to be an in-and-out wound. She is very, very lucky."
Naved Samuel says he owns the twin home on Glendale Avenue where the girl was shot. He told Eyewitness News his 12-year-old grandson was to blame.
He explained one of his guns was removed from a safe sometime this weekend after someone tried to break into his home. Samuel claims the unloaded gun was then returned to a safe.
"But it was unloaded, I mean the gun was not loaded. Unloaded," he said. "I don't know because I wasn't there. The police are investigating everything and I just ran to the hospital, I don't know what's going on."
Samuel said he wasn't home at the time of the shooting, and he refused to speculate on how the gun may have fallen into the hands of a 12-year-old.
Police sources have described his account as inconsistent.
The police commissioner was alarmed at the set of facts surrounding the "accidental shooting."
"I'm not anti-gun, pro-gun, but for me, I'm about responsible gun ownership," Ross said. "And I don't think a 14-year-old should have his ability to have his hands on a gun, even if it is legally registered to this home."
An update is expected from Northeast Detectives Monday night.
