Officials from the Yellowstone National Park identified a three-year old girl who died from a gunshot wound, according to USA Today.
The girl, named Ella Marie Tucker of Pocatello, Idaho is believed by officials to have held the gun. Information including names of the girl's parents and other pertinent information were not disclosed by attending police personnel.
Park officials say Ella's mother called for help on Saturday to report her daughter had shot herself with a handgun. Park rangers who responded to Grant Village Campground on the western shore of Yellowstone Lake were unable to resuscitate her.
It was the first shooting death in Yellowstone since 1978. Two shooting deaths occurred in the park that year, records show. Carrying a gun in a national park has been legal under a federal law that took effect in 2010.
The shooting happened during a time of year when summer tourism in Yellowstone begins to slow. About 3 million people visit the park every year. Heart attacks are the most common cause of death in Yellowstone.
"Given the 3 million visitors we see here every year, there thankfully are very few fatalities reported in the park," Yellowstone spokesman Al Nash said. He said heart attacks were the primary cause of human deaths in the park.
Portions of the park are within the borders of Wyoming, Idaho and Montana, with the girl's death occurring in Wyoming. Nash said park authorities have exclusive federal jurisdiction because the park predates the formation of those states, but works with surrounding law enforcement agencies. That means park rangers and special park agents are leading the investigation, he said.
The park has a federal district court, a federal magistrate, and an assistant U.S. attorney based in Mammoth Hot Springs, Nash said.
