On Sunday morning, on the north side of Indianapolis, IN, a 4-year-old girl shot herself and her father’s girlfriend in the head.

A spokesman for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said the child accidentally shot herself in the cheek after finding a handgun in a nightstand and pulling the trigger, firing a bullet that passed through her cheek, hitting her father’s fiancé in the back of the head.

“When officers arrived, they came into contact with the father of the 4-year-old who stated that he and his fiancé were asleep when he was awakened by the sound of the gunshot,” according to a press release.

“He stated that his daughter shot herself in the face, and it is believed that same bullet struck his fiancé in the back of the head.”

The father’s 2-year-old son was also in the room at the time of the shooting, but neither he nor the other children in the residence were harmed in the incident.

“Detectives are processing the scene and conducting an investigation into the circumstances that led up to the shooting,” the release stated. “Investigators have notified (Indiana) Child Protective Services for a separate investigation and the other children were released to the father.”

These are the worst stories I cover. The tragedy of this shooting is only compounded by the fact that instances like this are 100% preventable and should never happen. With good gun safety practices like storing firearms and ammunition separately, gun locks from Child ProjectSafe, gun safety programs like the Eddie Eagle program and affordable quick-access bio-safes, there is just no reason for shooting accidents like this one.

Please – if you have small children in the home, take steps to ensure you are storing your firearms safely and talk with your children about gun safety, the four rules of gun safety and teach them not to touch guns. Teach your children gun safety before they need it.