Nine-month-old baby shot dead by older brother

A five-year-old boy in the US has shot and killed his nine-month-old brother after a finding a loaded pistol in the family home.

Emergency services arrived at the house in Elmo, Missouri, yesterday after a frantic 911 call from the boys’ mother around nine in the morning.

The baby was flown to the Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City but was pronounced dead shortly before noon.

It is believed the five-year-old was handling the .22 calibre pistol when it accidentally discharged, hitting his brother, who was in a playpen, in the head.

Authorities say they have no reason to treat the incident as anything other than a tragic accident.

Around 100 children under the age of 14 are killed accidentally by gunfire every year in the US.

Attempts to legislate safety regulations, such as child locks, are routinely blocked in Congress by powerful lobby groups such as the NRA.