Detroit girl, 7, shot dead as policeman’s gun goes off

A sleeping seven-year-old girl was shot dead when an officer's gun went off while Detroit police were looking for a suspect in a teenager's murder.

Officers stormed into an apartment with their guns drawn at 12.40am yesterday and set off a flash grenade. The first man in came face to face with a 46-year-old woman and "some level of physical contact" ensued, according to assistant police chief Ralph Godbee.

The officer's gun went off and Aiyana Jones was hit in the neck. Mr Godbee said: "This is any parent's worst nightmare. It also is any police officer's worst nightmare."

Aiyana's father Charles said: "They came into my house with a flash grenade and a bullet. They say my mother resisted them, that she tried to take an officer's gun. They killed my baby."

Mr Jones told the Detroit Free Press that after hearing the explosion and gunshot, he rushed into the room where his daughter had been sleeping. He claimed that police forced him to lie on the ground.

Mr Godbee said the shooting was being investigated. He said he did not believe the gun was fired intentionally, and that the officer had been put on paid leave.

The Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality held a candlelit vigil last night at Aiyana's home.