6-year-old girl on zoo trip with mom shot in domestic dispute, Mississippi police say
A planned trip to a Mississippi zoo ended in tragedy after authorities say a man shot his girlfriend and her 6-year-old daughter before turning the gun on himself.
Police said Kyle Perkins, 26, shot the child twice during an argument with her mother at a Jackson hotel early Sunday. The three were in town for a trip to the Jackson Zoological Park, according to police.
Perkins then shot the child’s mother, 19-year-old Marlanque Braggs, striking her in the shoulder, police said.
After the shootings, Perkins went into the bathroom of the hotel room at Holiday Inn Express & Suites and shot and killed himself, according to police.
Two other children were also in the room at the time of the shooting but were unharmed, WAPT reported, citing authorities.
The 6-year-old girl was hospitalized in critical but stable condition and is recovering, Jackson police spokesman Sam Brown told McClatchy News. Her mother suffered non-life-threatening injuries, he said.