While Cleaning Gun, Mom Shoots 4-Year-Old—Twice

A Detroit mother told police that someone tried to grab her purse outside their apartment Friday afternoon before opening fire, and that her 4-year-old child was struck twice by bullets. By that night, however, the woman had confessed there was no robbery—police say she was actually trying to clean her gun when she accidentally pulled the trigger, NBC News reports. The child was shot in the arm and the leg and was hospitalized in critical condition, ClickOn Detroit reports. The mother was arrested. The truth came to light after police discovered the crime scene was inside, not outside, the home. (More Detroit stories.)