A Tennessee girl, aged 3, accidentally killed herself on Sunday night, according to local police in Wilson County. The incident allegedly occurred after she mistook a gun for a Wii controller.

Investigators claim that the girl's stepfather had left a semi-automatic weapon on the living room table, and that the child had mistaken it for a Nintendo Wii controller. The child is then said to have fatally shot herself in the abdomen. She was rushed to hospital, but pronounced dead the same night.

No charges have been filed in the case.

We advise parents concerned about their child's safety regarding Wii hardware to consult Nintendo's Wii safety page.

UPDATE: New details come pouring in, courtesy of local news channels. The gun is apparently a .380 caliber semi automatic handgun. The stepfather claims he was asleep at the time of the incident, according to authorities. The stepfather also claims the child's mother was in the room with the child at the time of the incident. The mother has told authorities the girl might have thought she was playing with a Nintendo Wii controller that resembled a gun. According to the stepfather, the gun was out because he had heard a prowler and gotten the gun out earlier that evening. He then left the gun on the table in the living room.

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You don't say...Tennessee...gun accident? How is this possible?

Pretty tragic when you think about it but this ain't Wii's fault.

PS3 cures cancer. X360 contollers are used by the military and people kill themselves because of the Wii. Decide for yourself who is the good guy in this tale :P :P

That's freakin' terrible. I feel so bad for the girl. I mean...she was only 3. She barely had time to live her life. AND WHAT GENIUS FATHER LEAVES A SEMI-AUTOMATIC WEAPON ON A TABLE WITHIN A TODDLER'S REACH? NICE JOB DAD!!!

So, in Tennessee you can leave a loaded firearm within reach of an unsupervised child and face no charges if that child hurts somebody with it?

Come. On.

This

The parents should be locked up for this,  this is completely inexcusable

It seems pretty absurd to even get the wii controller in the picture when this is about a 3 years old kid. At that age they will play with anything. There might have been some logic to blame it on a wii accessory had she shot the TV first, but likely the kid was just playing around.

'investigators claim that the girl's stepfather had left a semi-automatic weapon on the living room table,'

sad. Everyone forgets things now and then but when your dealing with weapons around kids there is no excuse.

Everything about this story is terrible

Even if you are three years old, I doubt you'd mistake a handgun for a Wii controller. Colour, shape, weight, feel.... it's all different. Seriously.

Then again, what can you expect from a mother that lets her three year old daughter hang around in the same room as a loaded gun? Intelligence?