(Photo/Xiaoxiang Morning Herald's Sina Weibo)

A 4-year-old girl was shot on Aug. 19 in Hunan province. The girl, nicknamed Xiaoximei, was injured by her 8-year-old playmate, who was allegedly trying to stop her from entering the second floor of an old house in their village of Datongshi in Hengyang, Hunan.

The boy fetched a gun from the second floor, “possibly trying to scare the other kids away,” said Chang Yi, the father of Xiaoximei, adding that his daughter got shot simply because she was standing in front of the group. Seeing that Xiaoximei was injured, the other children ran to get help, Xiaoxiang Morning Herald reported.

More than 100 bullets remain in the young girl’s body after a four-hour surgery. According to Huang Bin, a senior nurse at the ICU of Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, the girl’s gunshot wounds spread across her ribcage to her right arm and abdomen. The steel bullets also affected her heart and liver.

“The bullets are relatively small, and move even without much force. More surgery could cause additional damage to the child’s body. Some [of the bullets] can stay inside if they do not affect her organs,” Huang noted, adding that the girl is also being treated for tetanus in case any of the bullets cause the infection, the report explained.

(Photo/Xiaoxiang Morning Herald's Sina Weibo)

Xiaoximei’s mother said the family chose not to call the police because they are acquaintances of the boy’s family, and know his parents cannot afford expensive surgeries.

Chinese citizens are not allowed to possess guns without formal approval. Violators can be sentenced to up to seven years in prison, noted Hunan-based lawyer Xiong Lin, adding that the boy’s family could be held criminally accountable if the gun was found in illegal possession.