Five-year-old boy accidentally shoots and kills brother after finding loaded gun in woods

Police in Griffin, Georgia, are investigating who dropped the weapon

A five-year-old boy discovered a gun in a wooded area in Griffin, Georgia, and accidentally shot his brother (Wikimedia Commons)

A five-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed his 12-year-old brother after finding a gun in the woods, US police have said.

The child, from Griffin, Georgia, found the gun on Saturday and believed it was a toy. He then accidentally shot his brother in the chest, killing him, according to the city's police department.

Police responding to the scene performed CPR on the 12-year-old before transporting him to Wellstar Spalding regional hospital, where he died from his injuries.

Police are investigating who dropped the loaded weapon.

They said, earlier that day, a uniformed patrol officer (UPD) had performed a traffic stop which led to individuals fleeing the scene into a wooded area near to where the child later found the gun.

The police statement added: “As UPD officers searched the area they found a bag of suspected MDMA and recovered it where it was turned in for examination. A weapon was not found at that time. UPD Officers later made contact with the suspected driver of the fleeing vehicle who provided them with information relative to the investigation.”

Officers also spoke with the seven-year-old and nine-year-old siblings of the two brothers on Sunday, both of whom were present at the time of the shooting. They both corroborated what happened.

“We will leave no stone unturned as we search for the individuals responsible for the abandonment of this weapon,” Griffin police chief Mike Yates said.