A 5-year-old girl was shot in the chest inside her east-side Detroit home Saturday night after trick-or-treating. She was still wearing her Halloween costume.
Detroit police were called to Children’s Hospital of Michigan around 9 p.m. after receiving a report that a 5-year-old had been shot, ClickOnDetroit reported. Investigators later identified a home in the 5000 block of Iroquois as the shooting scene.
A Frantic Run Through the House
Police believe the girl was in a back room after trick-or-treating when she was hit. She ran to her mother, who was in the shower, and said, “I think I was shot,” according to the report.
Investigators had not determined whether the gunfire came from a passing vehicle or from someone outside the home. The report gave no further details about the girl’s condition, a suspect or a motive.
A Violent Month for Detroit's Children
The shooting comes after a string of October incidents in which children were caught in gunfire across the city. During the week of Oct. 11-13, three separate shootings involved child victims: a 14-year-old shot in the stomach and critically injured in the 3900 block of Wabash Street near Grand River Avenue, a mother and her 7-year-old daughter shot after an argument over children fighting outside, and a 16-year-old girl killed in a drive-by shooting on Chalmers Street between Mack and Warren avenues, which also left a 19-year-old man hurt, according to Fox 2 Detroit.
Those incidents stood in contrast to a broader citywide trend. Detroit police reported just one juvenile homicide over the summer, an 89% drop from 2025, the station noted in its coverage of the October shootings.
Citywide Numbers Show Overall Decline
The girl's shooting arrives even as Detroit's overall violence statistics have been trending downward. The city recorded 165 homicides in 2025, its fewest in nearly six decades, and logged 79 criminal homicides through July 23, 2026, compared with 93 over the same period the previous year, a 15.1% decrease, according to MLive.
Nonfatal shootings were also down 5.2% through the same date, and Detroit's police chief said fewer children had been struck by gunfire in 2026 than in 2025, MLive reported. Whether this latest shooting is connected to any of October's other incidents has not been established.
A Year-to-Year Shooting Comparison
A Detroit Police Department daily report dated Nov. 4, 2025, recorded 402 nonfatal shootings year to date, compared with 538 at the same point in 2024. These are year-to-date figures, not complete-year totals, according to the Detroit Police Department.
Police have not released information on a suspect description or possible charges. Anyone with information has been asked to contact police.
