Teenage girl and 11-year-old sister arrested over fatal shooting of 16-year-old brother

Alleged shooting took place in Florida home while parents were away

Police who arrived at the home in White Springs found the boy dead in the living room (AFP/Getty)

Two sisters aged 15 and 11 have been arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of their 16-year-old brother in north Florida.

Columbia County sheriff’s deputies said the sisters went to the High Springs police department at 10pm on Monday to report that their brother was dead. The children’s parents were reportedly out of the house at the time, according to the Associated Press (AP).

Police who arrived at the home in White Springs found the boy dead in the living room, the Gainesville Sun reports.

Sheriff’s spokesman Murray Smith told the Sun the 11-year-old allegedly assisted in the shooting but did not “pull the trigger” on the gun. It is not known exactly how she may have assisted.

He added that the older girl took the gun from a room that had been locked by her parents.

A three-year-old sibling was in the home at the time and is now under the care of state custody. A spokesperson for the Department of Children and Families said the agency is working with authorities to determine what happened and to help the other children.

The parents have been charged with failure to supervise in treatment of children.

Third Circuit State Attorney Jeff Siegmeister told the AP it has not yet been decided whether to charge the girls will be charged as adults.

Children arrested for crimes and treated as juveniles can be held in detention for a maximum of 30 days.

“Sometimes we can send them home after that, but in light of all of the facts in this case, we don’t have any place to send the children,” Mr Siegmeister said. “I may be forced to actually charge them as adults to hold them in juvenile detention until I can work something out. I don’t know all of the facts yet.”