According to investigators, the father of the young girl was reportedly playing with a gun when fired and struck the youngster in the face, CBS News reports. She died while still inside the home.
The man fled the scene in the aftermath of the shooting, but was taken into custody later, police say. It was also reported that a weapon was recovered inside the home.
It was reported earlier that the girl had been shot by her five-year-old brother.
Police are trying to determine who was in the home when the shooting happened, said Sgt. Eric Gripp.
The little girl’s name hasn’t been released, The New York Daily News reports.
Her father is identified as Maurice “Stephon” Phillips.
People inside the house where Phillips lives with his girlfriend Terra Riddick, and six children told police the girl’s brother was playing with the gun when it accidentally went off, shooting the girl in the face, Philly.com reports.
But neither her brother or Phillips were at the house when police arrived. News reports detailed the tragedy of one child killing another, but while this was happening, police were on a “desperate” search for Phillips, said homicide Capt. James Clark.
Phillips showed up at the 24th Police District on Saturday night and confessed that his son was not involved in the shooting.
Phillips had been “playing around with the gun,” Clark said, and accidentally shot his little girl.
Charges are pending, police said.
Neighbors sat on the couple’s front porch stoop on Sunday afternoon, beside a small sidewalk memorial featuring candles and stuffed animals. This was a quiet family, neighbors said, noting they never heard arguments.
Family friend Crystal Dougherty said the little girl had many friends in the neighborhood, CBS News reports.
“She was a great big sister to her littler brother . She was very smart, at four-years-old, she knows her alphabet, her colors,” said Dougherty. “She was just an outgoing little girl.”
This has been a violent weekend for the City of Brotherly Love. Early Sunday, a man shot and killed three people; including his brother and the brother’s girlfriend, before being taken into custody following a standoff that went on for several hours, police say, according to The New York Daily News.
